Classroom Assistants and Teachers: Pay

(asked on 5th May 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to provide above-inflation pay increases for teachers and school support staff.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 16th May 2023

The Department recognises teachers’ invaluable work in shaping future generations. This is why last year teachers were given the highest pay award in 30 years, up to 8.9% for new teachers, alongside a 5% award for experienced teachers and headteachers.

Looking to the next academic year, pay rises for teachers in 2023/24 must strike a careful balance between recruiting and retaining the best teachers and recognising their vital importance, alongside considering both affordability for schools and the wider economic context. On 21 February 2023, the Department published its written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, giving its views and inputs to help them form their recommendations for teachers’ pay this year.

The Government provided funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, including the additional funding announced at the Autumn Statement 2022, which is £3.5 billion higher in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. This will total £58.8 billion in 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. The Government provided these increases to school revenue budgets so that schools can cover cost increases in the year ahead, including teacher pay.

The Department knows challenges to recruitment and retention vary from subject to subject based on the demand in each area. Therefore, in addition to pay, there are several measures in place to tackle this, including: bursaries worth up to £27,000; scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage talented trainees to apply to train in key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics; £20,000 tax-free bursary for biology trainees in 2023/24; reintroduction of a £15,000 tax-free bursary for English trainees in 2023/24 and a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools.

The Government’s education reforms gave schools freedom to make their own decisions about budgets. For most staff, including teaching assistants, schools have the freedom to recruit according to their own circumstances and set pay and conditions.

Many schools pay teaching assistants according to Local Government pay scales. These are set through negotiations between the Local Government Association, which represents the employer, and Local Government trade unions (UNISON, Unite, and the GMB), which represent the employee. Central Government does not have any formal role in these matters.

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