mediaofficer, Posted
on:28 March 2023
Teachers in England have been offered a pay rise after the
Government set out an offer on pay, conditions and workload to
the education unions.
The offer follows more than a week of intensive talks between the
Government and the National Education Union (NEU), National
Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the Association of School
and College Leaders (ASCL) and NASUWT.
Here we tell you everything you need to know about our pay offer
for teachers, from how it’s funded to what it means for strikes,
along with plans to tackle workload.
What is the Government’s pay offer for teachers?
Our offer includes pay increases for teachers for this academic
year and next year.
Teachers will receive a one-off payment of £1,000 for the current
academic year.
This is on top of the average pay rise of 5.4% which teachers
received in September 2022. Teachers and leaders have been
offered an average pay rise of 4.5% in 2023 to 2024. This is
above the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast for
inflation at the end of this calendar year, which is 2.9% and
forecast to fall further.
The starting salary for new teachers will rise 7.1% to £30,000,
delivering on the Government’s commitment.
All four unions will now put this deal to their members.
Does the offer include anything about teacher’s working
conditions?
As part of the offer, we have put forward reforms to teachers’
workload and conditions.
Schools will be able to make their own decisions about pay
progression, ending Performance Related
Pay.
Schools will get greater clarity on the timing of Ofsted
inspections.
A new taskforce will be created to help reduce workload by an
average five hours a week for teachers and leaders.
How will the Government’s pay offer for teachers be
funded?
Schools will receive further funding for the pay awards.
The £1,000 one-off payment for teachers will be funded by
Government, via a new grant to schools.
Schools will receive an additional £2 billion in 2023 to 2024,
and in 2024 to 2025, taking school funding to its highest level
in history.
Because energy costs are forecast to fall at a faster rate than
previously expected, an average pay rise of 4% is now judged to
be affordable for schools.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) also published an
assessment of schools’ funding and costs, which comes to similar
conclusions.
Costs above this affordable 4% will also be provided for through
the new grant.
Does this mean that schools will have to make cuts if the
pay offer is accepted?
Based on school budgets over the period 2022 to 2024, after
accounting for the increase in teacher pay in 2022, schools have
a remaining £2.4 billion to fund:
- an increase in teacher pay in 2023 to 2024;
- an increase in pay for support staff in 2023 to 2024;
- the increase in schools’ energy costs in 2023 to 2024.
The government will provide schools with further funding of
around £620 million in 2023 to 2024, including a grant of £530
million for the one-off payment.
Combining the existing headroom with the additional funding
pledged in recent talks, schools should be able to give teachers
an average pay increase of 4.5% without making cuts to other
things.
*The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) makes recommendations on
the pay of teachers in England.
How do teachers vote on the pay offer?
Unions will now put the offer to their members in the coming
weeks.
This is a fair and reasonable offer and we urge teachers and
leaders to accept it.
If the offer of more pay is rejected, pay for next year will go
through the independent pay review
process as usual.
This will be disappointing for those teachers who want £1,000
extra this year and to be sure of a 4.5% pay increase next year.
Will there be more teacher strikes?
There are currently no further teacher strike dates confirmed but
the NEU has threatened two further strike dates.
It is deeply irresponsible that children’s education is disrupted
because of trade disputes.
With GCSE and A level exam periods approaching, students and
their parents should not have to worry about potential strike
disruption.
Accepting this offer on pay, conditions and workload would
prevent further disruption.
