Teachers’ pay rises will be capped at one per cent, Greening confirms

The education secretary has today announced that she wants teachers’ pay rises to be capped at an average of one per cent next year.

Secretary Justine Greening said there remains a “strong case for continued pay restraint in the public sector”.

The announcement will come as an outrage to many who expected the ban on public sector pay rises to be lifted in the education sector, as schools face an on-going recruitment crisis.

In 2015, the School Teacher’s Review Body (STRB) said a pay rise “significantly” higher than one per cent will be needed in the course of this parliament “to ensure the teacher pay framework remains competitive”.

The body cited concerns including workload, a decline in earnings, and increased availability of “more rewarding career opportunities” elsewhere.

Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said a one per cent pay rise will mean nothing in terms of teacher retention.

“At some stage the government is going to have to get real about understanding we have a significant crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.

“One of the key factors is our teacher salaries. The graduate employment market is much more competitive than it was a few years ago, and the salaries of teachers are not, in general, keeping up with graduate salary levels.”

Meanwhile, Ms Greening said there should not be an expectation that all teachers will get a one per cent pay rise, but instead schools will be able to choose which members of staff will get rises.

“The recent pay reforms mean that schools are now best placed to decide how pay awards can be targeted to meet their specific local recruitment and retention needs,” she added.