Six in 10 teachers have not received a 1 per cent pay rise this year, according to research by the NASUWT teaching union.

The union said its findings, based on responses from more than 8,000 teachers, were “deeply concerning” and that pay cuts had contributed to making teaching “less and less attractive to new graduates”.

The Department for Education accepted a recommendation from the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) last summer to increase the bottom and top of all classroom teacher and leadership pay ranges by 1 per cent in 2016-17. The award was in line with an overarching government policy to cap all public sector pay increases at 1 per cent a year up to 2019-20.

Teaching is less and less attractive to new graduates

That 1 per cent pay rise would, in itself, represent a real-terms pay cut, with inflation at 1.6 per cent in the year to December 2016, according to the Consumer Price Index.

However, in the NASUWT’s survey, carried out in November and December, 59 per cent of teachers reported that they had not even received a 1 per cent rise. The proportion was higher still for certain groups of teachers: 64 per cent of black and minority ethnic teachers, 64 per cent of teachers with disabilities and 62 per of women had not received the 1 per cent pay rise.

The survey also showed that 60 per cent of teachers had failed to progress up their pay range.

‘Unrealistic’ objectives

In addition, 55 per cent of teachers reported being set performance-management objectives this year that they felt were unrealistic and unachievable. Some 79 per cent said their objectives contained requirements beyond their control.

Chris Keates, NASUWT general secretary, described the findings as “deeply concerning”. “Six years of deep cuts have resulted in teachers’ pay being eroded to the value of tens of thousands of pounds each year,” she said.

Six years of deep cuts have resulted in teachers’ pay being eroded

“The teacher recruitment and retention crisis will not be resolved by continuing to pursue a policy that allows schools to pay teachers as little as they can get away with.”

In its submission to the STRB for the 2017-18 pay round, the DfE said it wanted overall teacher pay rises to continue to be capped at 1 per cent.

However, it suggested that rather than a uniform uplift to the bottom and top limits for all the ranges, pay rises could be “targeted” to improve recruitment and retention.

The DfE was contacted for comment.

@whazell