“We are very pleased that the independent pay review body has recognised that teacher pay must be significantly improved to support recruitment and retention, and that the government has fully accepted their recommendation. This will go some way to addressing the erosion of pay that has taken place over the last decade, and is in stark contrast to the below inflation awards that teachers have had to become accustomed to in recent years. We also welcome confirmation that schools will no longer be obligated to use performance-related pay, and the increased flexibility around non-contact time.
“The acknowledgement that schools require additional funding in order to afford this much-needed pay award and overall costs is reassuring and suggests the government understands the financial pressure that schools are under. We will be closely examining the detail to ensure the award will genuinely be affordable for all schools.
“We sincerely hope that the recent trend of teacher pay awards being resolved later and later in the academic year will now end. While we accept the extenuating circumstances of this year’s general election and subsequent change of government, going forward we see no reason why these decisions cannot be made earlier to give school leaders the time they need to plan their budgets for the following year.”