The starting salary for a teacher would rise by around 9 per cent, hitting just short of £30,000, under the new pay deal being proposed by the Scottish government and backed by councils, Tes Scotland can reveal.
Overall, the deal would mean rises for teachers on the main-grade scale ranging from 5-11 per cent, according to local authority sources, depending on what stage a teacher is at in their career.
However, industrial action is still a possibility as the proposal - for a 3 per cent increase combined with amendments to the salary scale, which explains the larger rises that could result - falls short of union demands for a 10 per cent rise for all teachers.
Tes Scotland has learned details of the proposed deal on the same day that a report found teacher pay in Scotland lagging behind other countries, although their counterparts in England have seen a steeper decline in recent years.
The biggest rise in the proposed new deal is planned for teachers on point three of the scale, who will usually have been in the job for three years; overall, they would receive an 11 per cent rise, sources say.
The smallest planned rise is for the teachers at the top of the scale, who would receive a 5 per cent pay rise overall.
The Scottish government is believed to have committed £35 million to fund the new deal, which includes £10 million for a three per cent rise for all staff earning up to £80,000 - previously it had offered three per cent only to staff earning up to £36,500 - and £25 million to overhaul the main grade scale, giving rises of varying sizes to teachers at different points on the scale.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “Teachers’ pay is a matter for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers and negotiations for 2018-19 are now well underway and making progress.”
The EIS teaching union - the largest in Scotland - has told members it is continuing to prepare for industrial action.
In an update posted on its website, the EIS said the minimum three per cent rise being proposed for all teachers fell “well short” of the 10 per cent pay claim and was “unlikely to be acceptable to members”.
It added: “We have been clear, also, that the 10 per cent claim is for all members at all grades. Whilst the [EIS] may be willing to consider amendments to the main-grade scale, there must be improvements of equal value for members on all salary scales for progress to be possible.”
The union also stated: “It is the view of the of the EIS that whilst we will continue to negotiate in good faith with both [local authorities body] Cosla and Scottish government, we must be prepared, also, for the likelihood of a ballot during this session and the possibility of industrial action.”
The teachers’ side of the tripartite Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers - the body that negotiates teachers pay and includes teachers organisations, councils and Scottish government - will respond formally to the offer a week today.
Meanwhile, an international report found that pay for secondary staff in Scotland has declined by five per cent since 2005.
The report, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said: “In contrast to the general trend across OECD countries, teachers’ statutory salaries in England and Scotland fell in real terms between 2005 and 2017, by about 10 per cent in England and about five per cent in Scotland.”
The OECD figures show an average salary in primary schools around the developed world are £42,000, while teachers in secondary get an average of £45,000. In Scotland, teachers at the top of the scale in both primary and secondary are paid £36,500.
The OECD report also concluded that the pay of Scottish teachers is relatively low when compared to other graduate professions.
Teaching unions say pay has decreased significantly since the McCrone agreement of 2001, which followed an independent committee of inquiry which reviewed the profession’s pay and conditions.
