Sixth-form colleges teachers should see their pay increase in line with teachers in schools, according to the NUT teaching union.

The union argues that, following an agreement reached with the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA) last year, a 1 per cent pay rise recommended for school teachers also should apply to its members in colleges.

The SFCA, however, told TES that no agreement had yet been reached and that negotiations were “ongoing”.

The NUT has argued that the SFCA reached an agreement with the teaching unions in early 2015 on the implementation of a new pay and appraisal framework from this September 2016. This provided for the implementation of a revised pay structure, intended to restore comparability with school teachers’ pay at both the minimum and maximum of the scales, it says.

‘Any other course of action would be inconsistent’

Andrew Morris, head of salaries at NUT, said last year’s talks had resulted in a “quid pro quo agreement”, which had seen staff agree to their pay increases being linked to appraisals. “We have already effectively agreed to restore parity,” he added. “We are not describing this as a pay claim, because in our view we have already agreed the structure.”

The national joint committee (NJC) determines pay and other terms and conditions for staff at sixth-form colleges. It is made up of the employer side, represented by the SFCA, and the staff side, represented by the NUT, ATL and NASUWT unions.According to the NUT’s pay and conditions submission, “the NJC should, therefore, now simply ensure that the pay structure set out in that agreement is implemented from September 2016 on the basis agreed”. “Any other course of action would be inconsistent with the agreement already reached on the new pay framework,” it adds. “This will require the revalorisation of all pay scale points from September 2016 in order to maintain their intended value and relationship with school teachers’ pay as agreed in early 2015.”

A spokesman for the Sixth Form Colleges Association confirmed the SFCA were “currently considering the pay claim from the recognised teacher unions”. “The negotiations within the National Joint Council are ongoing and informed by a number of factors including employer side pay policy as well as the union side’s aspirations”.

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