Headteachers have warned that the Department for Education’s new pay offer is the “worst possible” outcome as it could break school budgets while also failing to keep teachers in the profession.
Leaders have expressed concerns about how schools will cover the proposed pay rise for teachers next year after the government said just one-ninth of the figure would be supported with new money.
And specific concerns have been raised about the impact it will have on special schools and those close to the Scottish border.
The offer, which was made public yesterday, proposes new funding for a £1,000 non-consolidated payment for 2022-23 and an average 4.5 per cent rise for 2023-24.
But just 0.5 per cent of the overall 4.5 per cent pay award for next year will come through new funding, according to the education secretary, who said in a letter to unions last week that the “calculation of school affordability” had been increased to 4 per cent.
Heads to be asked about deal’s affordability
The government announced in October that it would invest an extra £2.3 billion per year in schools over the next two years.
Today Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, said that he did not believe that “sufficient funding is being made available to meet even this inadequate offer”.
A government source has told Tes that a four per cent pay rise would be affordable for the sector as a result of an expectant fall in energy prices.
However, the NEU teachers’ union said its analysis shows that between 42 and 58 per cent of schools will not be able to pay the proposed teacher pay rise without making cuts.
The NAHT is asking its members if they accept the deal and whether they are willing to vote for industrial action if they reject it.
Mr Whiteman said: “Creating a situation where school leaders must make cuts to afford a pay deal that the government says is designed to make teaching a more attractive profession would be perverse. We will be asking members to confirm or correct our early analysis that this pay offer cannot be afforded from existing school budgets.”
‘Worst of all outcomes’
The pay offer has received an overwhelmingly negative reaction on social media both because of the size of the proposed increase for 2023-24 and the fact that the majority of it will not come with new funding.
Caroline Derbyshire, chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, said: “This is the worst of all outcomes: an unacceptable offer that humiliates teachers further, makes recruitment worse and scares the hell out of heads and CEOs.”
Ms Derbyshire added that “everyone is furious” because the pay offer for next year is not fully funded.
Dan Morrow, chief executive of Dartmoor multi-academy trust, warned that budgets are “already breaking” alongside the challenge in recruitment and retention of staff.
Despite the expected uplift of the teacher starting salary to £30,000 from September and a hike in bursaries, the government is expected to miss its teacher trainee recruitment target for the second year in a row.
Commenting on the government’s pay offer, Mr Morrow said: “This is an utter - and I believe calculated - insult.”
Meanwhile, Vic Goddard, co-principal at Passmores Academy, said it was “hard to look at the ‘offer’ as anything other than a show of contempt to the profession”.
He warned that as a result, the trust would have to lose more staff and cut more resources and opportunities for pupils.
Last month, leaders warned that the 3.5 per cent pay rise recommended by the Department for Education for teachers would be “unsustainable” and could lead to staff cuts without extra funds.
Special schools - one off payment could be divisive
Warren Carratt, chief executive of the Nexus MAT of special schools in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, said the pay offer created two major concerns for the sector.
He said: “The issue of unfunded pay rises for teachers will be challenging for special schools, particularly because we have faced unfunded increases for support staff as well.
“But I am also concerned that a one-off payment of £1,000 for some but not all school staff could be quite divisive if this goes ahead.”
Mr Carratt added that support-staff unions had already rejected a flat pay offer of £1,925 for next year and warned that a one-off pay offer for teachers could be divisive for staff in schools and also increase the likelihood of a larger unfunded increase for support staff coming out of special-school budgets.
He said: “The position we are getting to is that our budgets will be unaffordable, unsustainable and special schools will not be able to provide safe levels of school staffing.”
Simon Knight, joint headteacher at Frank Wise special school said that the “belief that schools can cover these increases bears no resemblance to the financial reality we are trying hard to manage. The situation is utterly untenable.”
Energy costs
Tes reported yesterday that the DfE believes increased pay can be funded within existing budgets, partly through energy costs coming down in the coming months.
But although this may help some schools that are approaching their renewal date or are on flexible deals, those on long-term fixed-price deals will not be affected by price fluctuations.
Headteachers’ leaders have questioned the government’s logic.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The Department for Education has got its sums wrong on the benefit of falling energy prices. Everything that we are hearing from schools indicates that energy prices continue to have a significant impact on their budgets and will do so for the foreseeable future.
“They will not have increased head room for pay awards next academic year in the way that the Department for Education assumes. The likelihood is that many would only be able to afford pay awards by making cuts to their budgets elsewhere.”
Maintained nurseries
Beatrice Merrick, chief executive at Early Education, said that maintained nurseries were already being “asked to make impossible choices to cope with the underfunding”.
“Some are now operating without any teachers other than the headteacher; some headteachers are going part-time; some are taking unpaid leave, or offering unpaid leave to staff; most are operating at maximum staff:child ratios, which restricts their options for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities.”
Ms Merrick added that, as a result, it will be the “most disadvantaged children whose education is put at risk”.
Earlier this month, Tes revealed that just three per cent of early years settings, including maintained nurseries, said they will be able to continue providing their current level of services or places.
England lagging behind
Another source of controversy is that the teacher pay offer in England is less than has been offered to teachers in Scotland and Wales.
In Wales, union members this month voted in favour of a pay offer amounting to an 11.8 per cent rise for all teachers (comprising 6.5 per cent this year, followed by 5 per cent next year) plus a 1.5 per cent non-consolidated payment this year.
And in Scotland, a deal for a 14.6 per cent increase in pay for most teachers by January 2024 was accepted.
Speaking to members in a video briefing yesterday evening, Louise Atkinson, president of the NEU, said that she thought the offer was “completely insulting”, especially given the fact that she lives 10 miles from the Scottish border.
Fear of teachers going north of border
There have been some concerns raised that the widening earnings gap could lead to some English schools within commuting distance of Scotland and Wales struggling with recruitment and retention.
Clem Coady, headteacher at Stoneraise School in Carlisle, Cumbria, about a 20 minute drive from the Scottish border, said that he expected the discrepancy would cause issues for schools in the area.
“It will add to both recruitment and retention issues this side of the border,” he said.
“With more leadership vacancies in Cumbria over the past 12 months compared to previous years, it shows retaining staff and, crucially, recruiting new leaders is already extremely challenging”.
“While pay isn’t the only concern, as we need to consider accountability and work-based pressures, the clear pay difference is not going to ease the situation.”
Teachers who train in England but want to work in Scotland can register with the General Teaching Council for Scotland, but the body is currently warning applicants that this is taking “several months” to process.
A Department for Education spokesperson said that the government and the education unions had engaged in “intensive discussions” over the past 10 days, adding: “The government has put forward a fair and reasonable offer, backed with funding for schools. The offer provides an average 4.5 per cent pay rise for next year, puts £1,000 into the pockets of teachers as a one-off payment for this year, and commits to reducing workload by five hours each week.
“This is a good deal for teachers that acknowledges their hard work and dedication.”
