School Teachers' Review Body (24th Report)

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Michael Gove)]

The 24th report of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) is being published today, responding to the remit I issued in October 2013. The report contains recommendations on how to apply the pay award for teachers that is due to be implemented from September 2014. Subject to the views of consultees, I intend to accept the STRB’s recommendations in full.

The STRB has recommended a 1% uplift of the national framework for teachers’ pay from September 2014. The uplift will be applied to the minima and maxima of all the pay ranges and allowances in the national pay framework, including the:

unqualified teachers’ pay range;

main pay range;

upper pay range;

leading practitioner pay range;

leadership pay range;

head teacher groups;

teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) allowance pay ranges;

special educational needs (SEN) allowance pay range.

The STRB has also recommended that those teachers and school leaders who currently sit on the maxima of the pay ranges should receive a 1% uplift. For all teachers who are paid other than on the minima and maxima the STRB has recommended that schools should determine locally how to take account of the uplift.

In addition to the uplift, the STRB has made a number of recommendations about advice that my Department should issue, including that the discretionary reference points in departmental advice should be uplifted by 1%. A full list of the recommendations is attached as an annex.

My officials will write to all of the statutory consultees of the STRB to invite them to contribute to a consultation on my acceptance of these recommendations, and on the text of the 2014 school teachers’ pay and conditions document. The consultation will last for six weeks.

I am grateful for the careful consideration which the STRB has given to this important matter. Copies of the STRB’s 24th report are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office and the Libraries of both Houses, and online at www.gov.uk

Annex to written ministerial statement

School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB’s) remit and recommendations

1—In October 2013, I referred to the STRB the following matters for recommendation:

a) What adjustments should be made to the salary and allowance ranges and scales for classroom teachers, unqualified teachers and school leaders to reflect the 1% pay award for public sector workers;

b) What adjustments should be made to salaries and allowances in payment;

c) How to provide a simplified and flexible framework for ensuring school leaders’ pay is appropriate to the challenge of the post and their contribution to their school or schools;

d) How the current detailed provisions for allowances, other pay flexibilities and safeguarding could be reformed to allow a simpler and more flexible STPCD; and

e) How the framework for teachers’ non-pay conditions of service could be reformed to raise the status of the profession and support the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers, and raise standards of education for all children.

2—In making its recommendations, the STRB was asked to consider:

a) The need to ensure that the proposals reflect the Government’s policy that public sector pay awards average 1% for the two years following the pay freeze;

b) The affordability of any recommendations within the existing budgets of individual schools;

c) The need to ensure that any proposals are not difficult or onerous for schools to implement;

d) Evidence of the national state of teacher and school leader supply, including rates of recruitment and retention, vacancy rates and the quality of candidates applying for qualified teacher status (QTS);

e) Evidence of the wider state of the labour market in England and Wales;

f) Forecast changes in the pupil population and consequent changes in the level of demand for teachers;

g) The Government’s commitment to increasing autonomy for all head teachers and governing bodies to establish pay arrangements that are suited to the individual circumstances of their schools.

3—In its 24th report, the STRB has recommended:

A 1 % uplift to be applied to the minima and maxima of all the pay ranges and allowances in the national pay framework—unqualified teachers’ range, main pay range, upper pay range, leading practitioner pay range and the leadership pay range, including the minima and maxima of the eight head teacher pay bands, the three levels of teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) allowances and the special educational needs (SEN) allowance.

That, for those on individual pay ranges¹ schools determine locally how to take account of the uplift to the national framework in making individual pay progression decisions and consider how individual pay ranges should be uplifted.

The pay² of teachers on the minima and maxima of their range and of head teachers on the minima and maxima of their pay band be uplifted to the new minima and maxima in September 2014.

DfE makes clear that, in revising its pay policies for 2014-15, schools should consider, and set out, how any pay decisions for those on the maxima of pay ranges in September 2015 will take account of performance in applying any uplift to the national framework.

DfE uprates by 1% the reference points in its advice to schools. For the purpose of guiding September 2014 pay decisions.

That schools who have not adopted the reference points set out in DfE advice consider how to apply the 1% uplift to the national framework to their local policy.

That reference points should be removed from DfE advice following the September 2014 pay decisions.

That DfE makes clear that all schools should revise their pay policies for 2014-15, and set locally determined arrangements for performance-related progression as a basis for decisions on pay in September 2015.

That DfE makes clear in advice to schools the scope for the most able teachers to progress rapidly through the main and upper pay ranges, where justified by consistently excellent performance, to the leading practitioner and leadership pay ranges.

^1. Leading practitioners and teachers in leadership posts

^2. Base pay excluding any allowances. The treatment of allowances is covered by separate recommendations.