Teachers struggling to confirm pay rise

The majority of teachers are facing confusion over the pay policy, while many are still waiting to learn whether their salaries will increase this year as schools struggle with budget cuts.

Unions have claimed the new freedoms for schools to decide details regarding teacher wages has led to a ‘wild west’ situation, whereby inconsistent guidance and budget pressures has meant that less teachers are being told about their pay awards.

In particular, unions have suggested that schools could be failing to award pay rises to avoid creating ‘division’ among staff, proposing that some of the uncertainty was a result of bureaucratic delays.

According to a survey produced by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers  (NASUWT), 57 per cent of teachers had not received or confirmed a one per cent cost-of-living rise.

Official guidance dictates that schools must offer this rise to the highest and lowest earners in most teaching pay ranges, but for other teachers this rise is now at the discretion of the school.

Of the 6,700 teachers who responded, 27 per cent of teachers eligible for the performance-related pay progression were yet to hear a decision about the wages. Furthermore, 10 per cent of those polled have been refused the increase.

The survey results found only one in 20 of the top-ranking mainscale teachers eligible for a special two per cent rise, designed to increase staff retention, actually received the increase.

The data comes as the government has reiterated its case for ‘continued pay restraint’, alongside ‘additional flexibilities for schools and incentives to recognise performance’.

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