Most classroom teachers have not even received the 1 per cent pay rise allowed under the government’s pay cap, a teaching union warned today.

The average award last year was a “paltry” 0.6 per cent, according to the NASUWT union’s deputy general secretary, Patrick Roach, who also said that too many schools were awarding “inflation-busting” pay rises to senior leaders.

Speaking today at the TUC Congress in Brighton, Dr Roach said schools were sitting on £2.1 billion of unspent reserves and, in some cases, were paying leaders in excess of £400,000 a year.

He said that, for many teachers, the government’s pay policies had provided no guarantee of a pay award or pay progression.

‘Diverting money away from teachers’

He added: “Instead, research by the NASUWT has demonstrated that too many schools are diverting money away from teachers to fund inflation-busting pay rises for senior managers.

“Last year, the combined effect of the government’s pay cap and discretionary pay in schools meant that the average pay award for classroom teachers last year was just 0.6 per cent.”

Dr Roach also said that growing inequality and “institutionalised discrimination” in some schools saw some women teachers earning just 85 per cent of the amount earned by their male counterparts, and BME teachers earning less than white teachers.

He added: “The fight to end the cap on public sector pay must be our priority. But our fight must not end there. We must also continue our fight to end the pay cap and end discriminatory pay practices.”

Under the latest pay deal, teachers will receive a 1 per cent pay rise this September, but a “small proportion” of teachers at the bottom of the main scale will receive 2 per cent increase.

The Department for Education and ASCL headteachers’ union have been contacted for comment.

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