Teachers’ starting salaries set to rise to £30,000
Katy Morton
Monday, September 2, 2019
The education secretary has announced plans to increase teachers’ starting salaries to make the profession more attractive and boost recruitment.
By 2022-23, starting salaries for new teachers are set to rise by £6,000 to £30,000, under Government plans for the biggest reform to teachers’ pay in a generation.
According to the Department for Education, the move will make starting salaries for teachers ‘among the most competitive in the graduate labour market'.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson will set out his proposal to increase teachers’ starting salaries in a remit letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body, asking for their recommendations on raising starting salaries of new teachers as well as next year’s pay award.
Today’s announcement by Mr Williamson also includes the Government’s commitment to fully fund higher payments into the teachers’ pension scheme. As of this month, employers will contribute 23.6 per cent into teachers’ pensions.
There are also plans to develop a group of Ambassador Schools to champion flexible working to ensure teaching continues to be an attractive career.
The news follows last week’s announcement by the Prime Minister of a £14 billion investment in schools funding, details of which were leaked to a newspaper days earlier.
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Education secretary Gavin Williamson said, ‘Teachers truly are the lifeblood of a school and I have been instantly impressed by the dedication, commitment and hard work that I have seen from those at the front of our classrooms.
‘I want to keep great teachers in the profession, and we know that the lack of flexible working opportunities is often cited as a reason for leaving.
‘Other sectors have embraced flexible working and the benefits it provides – I want to see the same in schools. There are great things happening in some schools, but I want it to be the norm.
‘Teachers should be in no doubt that this Government fully backs them in every stage of their career, starting with rewarding starting salaries, and giving them the powers they need to deal with bad behaviour and bullying and continue to drive up school standards.’
The Council for Disabled Children welcomed the announcement, but called on the Government to make a wider comment to ‘shore up’ other parts of the system ‘bucking under pressure’.
The charity’s director Dame Christine Lenehan said, ‘‘It would be churlish not to welcome such significant funding for education after years of cuts.
‘This money is pledged at an acutely uncertain time, when promises made today may fall by the wayside as the wheel of fortune turns in Westminster.
‘We urge the Government to remember that education does not take place in a vacuum. Social conditions matter too.
‘We need investment in public health and the early years so that parents can give our children the best start in life. We need properly funded child protection services so that our children can be kept safe from abuse and neglect. We need an end to the welfare policies that are driving an ever increasing number of our children into appalling poverty.
‘We will watch carefully as the detail underpinning the funding announcements emerge, and urge policymakers to be mindful of the parlous state that the nation’s schools, services and other support have fallen into.’
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said it would like to see a firm commitment to early years.
Chief executive Purnima Tanuku explained, 'We are facing a workforce crisis in early years fuelled by Government underfunding and stalled investment plans.
'Our workforce survey revealed that there are fewer highly qualified staff working in early years and that pay is a real issue for staff and employers. If the funding gap isn’t addressed this latest announcement risks more of our passionate educators choosing primary school teaching over early years.
'Evidence shows that investing in a child’s earliest years, ensuring they can access high-quality education and care, gives them the biggest boost to the rest of their education and life chances. However, announcement after announcement is coming from the Government about education spending without recognising the need we see in early years. We urgently need the Chancellor to address this imbalance in his spending round planned for this week.'
