Teachers’ wages in England have deteriorated and are now at worrying levels, the head of an influential international study said today.
New data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Education at a Glance report released today shows that teachers’ salaries have fallen 10 per cent in real terms in England in the last 12 years, a larger cut than anywhere else in the developed world except Greece.
Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the OECD, speaking at the report’s launch in London today, said that the UK was “quite a unique case” in seeing salaries drop since 2005.
“Very few countries have seen a relative worsening of their working conditions,” he said.
And he added that while financial rewards weren’t the only thing which made teaching attractive or not: “On the financing side this data suggests that this is going to become an issue at some point in time.”
Speaking after the event, Mr Schleicher, who also runs the influential Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) rankings, added: “I think you have to worry about teacher pay - that is clear. Teacher salaries have deteriorated in absolute terms and starting salaries are now way below the OECD average.
“It’s only part of the equation, making teaching financially more attractive is a start. But you also have to worry about making teaching intellectually more attractive. That is about working conditions - giving more space for other things than teaching for collaborative culture in schools for building networks of professional practice. I would think those things are at least as important.”
He also said that the relatively large pay gap between teachers and headteachers in England was “a good choice”.
The Education at a Glance data revealed that the average earnings of secondary heads in England were more than twice that of teachers - whereas on average across the OECD, a secondary head as a salary 39 per cent higher than teachers.
Mr Schleicher told Tes that salary premium reflected the high level of responsibility given to headteachers in England.
“In a system of high autonomy where a lot of responsibility rests on school heads you really want to get great people into that job,” he said. “So I don’t think the pay differential is too high. I think it is a good choice in your context, where so much depends on a school principal.
“In your case who the school hires, how they work with teachers, how they frame practice, how they make pedagogical choices. You want to get these choices right and that depends on these people.”
The Department for Education announced in July that pay for teachers on the main pay scale would increase by 3.5 per cent this year, but those on the upper ranges will get 2 per cent and leaders will receive 1.5 per cent.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed out that with inflation at 2.4 per cent, this pay award meant that around 60 per cent of teachers would get a real-terms pay cut.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The education secretary has been clear that there are no great schools without great teachers and his top priority is to make sure teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling profession. There are still more than 450,000 teachers in our classrooms - 11,900 more than in 2011 - and increasing numbers are returning to the profession.
“We recently announced a fully funded pay rise for classroom teachers and we are working with school leaders and unions on a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers and strip away unnecessary workload. This is on top of the range of financial incentives we already offer to help attract the brightest and best into our classrooms.”
