Supply teachers are continuing to face serious financial
hardship as a result of stagnating, and in some cases deep cuts
to rates of pay.
This is among the findings of the latest annual survey of
hundreds of supply teachers in England and Wales by
the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union.
Just 12% of supply teachers said the level of pay they
receive per day has increased in the last 12
months.
Over two thirds (68%) said the supply agency they most
recently worked for operates a ceiling on the level of pay for
teachers.
At a time of a national teacher supply crisis, one in five
supply teachers said they are frequently offered work as a
teaching assistant or cover supervisor. 83% said this is at a
lower rate of pay than they would receive if they were employed
on the school staff as a qualified teacher.
Nearly one in five (17%) said they have been asked by an
agency to undertake a ‘free trial’ at a school prior to
undertaking paid supply work.
Nearly half (49%) said they have been asked to sign a
contract or agreement with an umbrella company and 42% of these
said they have subsequently found themselves paying both their
own and their employers National Insurance
contributions.
15% said they have been denied access to a permanent post
by the agency imposing a finder’s fee on the school.
19% of supply teachers say that in the last year they have
had to take on a second job to make ends meet and more than one
in ten (11%) has had to claim Jobseekers Allowance, with a
further 11% claiming other benefits.
41% said that in the last year they have had to cut back
spending on food, 32% have had to delay household repairs and 23%
have had to increase their use of credit.
Supply teachers also reported a failure to provide them
with essential information about pupils’ needs when starting work
at a new school. Nearly half (44%) said they were not made aware
by schools of the children they were teaching who had special
needs or behavioural problems and nearly a third (29%) said they
were not informed about schools’ behaviour management policies.
43% reported that they are not given clear information on the
school’s fire evacuation policy.
Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary
(Acting), said:
“The continuing exploitation of supply teachers who make a
vital contribution to the education of children and young people
is scandalous.
“The mantra of the majority of supply agencies appears to
be to maximise their profits by minimising the pay of supply
teachers.
“Unfortunately, too many schools collude with the poor
practices of some of the agencies, which the NASUWT survey shows
are rife.
“The ‘free trials’ where supply teachers desperate for work
are pressured into working for nothing on the vague promise of
future employment are just one example of the appalling practices
which should be outlawed and demonstrate why not only agencies,
but also the terms on which supply teachers are employed by
schools, should be regulated.
“Supply teachers find themselves in low paid, insecure and
precarious work, facing the unacceptable and iniquitous choice
between working below their salary level or getting no work at
all.
“This is leaving many supply teachers in increasing
financial hardship, reliant on credit, benefits or second jobs to
make ends meet.
“Whilst the responsibility rests with government to protect
workers’ rights and regulate against these practices, too many
schools are complicit in the unacceptable treatment of supply
teachers and not just with regards to pay.
“Schools which fail to honour the contractual rights of
their permanently employed teachers and force them to cover for
absence are seriously affecting the availability of work for
supply teachers, whilst at the same time denying their own
teachers their rights and adding to their workload.
“The NASUWT is also concerned by the survey findings
regarding the health and safety of supply teachers. Failure
by schools to provide supply teachers with vital health and
safety information is a serious dereliction of their
responsibilities.
“It is also disturbing that supply teachers report not
being given essential information about the learning needs of the
pupils in the classes they are covering, leaving both the teacher
and the pupils vulnerable.
“It is shameful that despite the wealth of damning evidence
about the unacceptable treatment of supply teachers that
government and employers continue to fail and neglect this
important group of working people.
“The survey underlines the importance of the NASUWT’s
continuing campaign of fighting for an end to the exploitation of
these teachers who provide such a valuable service to children
and young people.
“There can be no doubt that rights of supply teachers must
be a key question posed to politicians as they set out their
commitments on education in the run up to the General
Election.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
830 supply teachers in England and Wales responded to the
survey during June and July 2019.
