The gap between further education teacher pay in different college types has widened, new research by the Department for Education has revealed today.

The research, which analysed the FE teacher workforce in England between 1998-99 and 2017-18, also shows that London-based teachers had the highest median pay compared with other regions in England. 

Tes reported in July 2020 that the pay gap between school teachers and FE lecturers had risen, on average, to more than £9,000 per year.

The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published last week, set out the government’s proposals to improve teacher recruitment and retention in FE, including a new national recruitment campaign and increased high-quality professional development and support progression for teachers.

Need to know: FE workforce data shows college teacher pay down

More: FE and schools pay gap to rise to over £9,000 per year

Skills for Jobs White Paper: What does it propose?

Teachers in sixth-form colleges have higher median pay than those at general FE colleges and specialist colleges, the data reveals.

UCU’s head of further education Andrew Harden said it was “no surprise to see undervalued teachers continuing to leave the profession”. 

He said: “In real terms further education teachers have seen their pay cut by 30 per cent over the past decade. Last year the government increased the sector’s funding by £400m, yet further education colleges refused to use it to pay staff more. If the government and college leaders are serious about using further education to provide the post Covid- recover the country needs, we need to recruit and keep outstanding teachers. This will be impossible without increasing pay.’

Mary Vine-Morris, Association of College’s national lead for employment ,said that the report “provides irrefutable evidence” that college funding does not enable staff to be paid fair rate for their work.

She said: “The gap in starting salaries makes it all the more important that the government’s commitment to a starting salary of £30k for teachers includes college staff. Our workforce need to be rewarded in the same way as their school counterparts. It is no surprise that low pay is leading to a worrying fall in retention rates as younger staff particularly are forced to leave in order to get a salary which will allow them to buy a home and raise a family. 

“The initiatives set out in the Skills for Jobs White Paper are definitely a step in the right direction in working to rectify some of this, but they will not work on their own without being backed up by long-term, serious investment that means teaching in FE is a rewarding and viable career.”

College teacher pay gaps

The median pay across all colleges was £33,750 - but since 2001-02, the pay gap between sixth forms and general and specialist colleges has widened. 

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said: “We recruit school teachers and it only makes sense to compare Sixth Form College salaries with those in the school sector rather than FE colleges. SFCs set pay levels with the STRB settlements in mind, so that they can continue to attract the best possible workforce.” 

Teachers in London-based colleges have the highest median pay of all English regions, the data shows, whereas the lowest median pay was in the South West. 

New teaching entrants to FE

The data shows that the greatest pay progression for new teachers is seen within the first five years of starting in FE colleges. It also finds that there has been a general downward trend in salary increases which, the DfE says, “have otherwise been largely consistent in the most recent 10 years”. 

The retention rate has fallen for more recent cohorts - with just half (51 per cent) of teachers who started in 2016 still teaching after three years, in comparison to 68 per cent of teachers who started in 2000 still teaching after three years. 

Overall teacher retention in FE

More FE teachers are leaving the profession within two academic years, the research shows. 

More than half (53 per cent) of teachers in 2014-15 no longer taught in FE after five years, the research reveals - an increase of staff leaving the profession from 1988-99, when a third of teachers were no longer teaching after five years. 

The data also reveals that the majority of teachers leaving FE colleges after just one academic year were aged between 50 and 59, followed by those aged between 40 and 49.

The majority of teachers leaving left education altogether, with just 2 to 3 per cent of teachers consistently leaving to teach in another area of education.