- School teachers, leaders, and support
staff will see their maternity pay boosted
for the first time in over 25 years, helping more women to
stay on in the profession and thrive.
- Women aged 30-39 are the largest group of leavers from the
teaching workforce. This
means pupils are missing out on having
access to experienced teachers if young women are forced to
choose between their career and having a family
- The school's white paper, set to be
published next week, is expected to confirm that the
government will take action to help tackle this by
doubling the period of full maternity pay for
schoolteachers' and leaders' from 4 weeks full pay to 8
weeks from the 2027-28 academic year, backed by additional
funding.
- To further support women returning from maternity
leave to thrive in the workplace,
a new schoolteacher retention programme starting
from this Autumn providing peer support, coaching, and
resources to help schools support their staff to manage
workloads, support their wellbeing, and offer more
expanding flexible working.
- The move builds on the action already under way to
restore teaching as the highly valued profession
it is with almost 10% pay awards over two years, alongside
addressing issues including poor pupil behaviour, workload and
wellbeing that are areas that we know are driving teachers away.
- This is already delivering results with
last year seeing one of the lowest rates of
teachers leaving the profession since 2010, and over
2,300 more secondary and
special schoolteachers in classrooms this year as the
government delivers on its pledge to recruit and retain
6,500 teachers.
- For school support staff, the government
will also provide funding to schools and will remit the soon
to be established School Support Staff Negotiating
Body (SSSNB) to negotiate equivalent improvements for support
staff in its first year of operation. Funding to
colleges commensurate to investment in
schools will also be provided to support them
to improve the maternity offer for their
staff.
Education Secretary, , said:
“Having met so many incredible teachers and staff in schools and
colleges, I've heard how tough it can be juggling between a
career you love and starting a family, and I'm concerned that too
many women feel they don't have the support they need to make the
right choice for them.
“Maternity pay for teachers has been left to stagnate for too
long. That's why I am taking the first step in 25 years to
improve it, backed by a new programme that will support more
women returning after leave, so
more pupils benefit from the experienced
teachers they need at the front of classrooms.
“This will build on the action already taken to keep teachers in
the profession and thriving, including 10% pay increases over two
years and work to tackle poor pupil behaviour, high workload and
poor wellbeing. By investing in great teachers, we invest in
stronger foundations for every child's future.”
