Teacher pay 2024: Everything you need to know

The government has approved teacher and leader pay rises of 5.5 per cent, and will hand schools £1.2 billion towards the cost of covering them.

But leaders will have to find some of the money themselves, prompting warnings that hard-up schools will struggle to afford the rise.

However, the four teaching and leadership unions have warmly welcomed the rise, which is above current inflation.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is the pay deal?

The STRB report recommended “increases to teachers’ pay of 5.5 per cent at all grades”, along with a “5.5 per cent increase to all allowance ranges”. This will apply to teachers and school leaders.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told Parliament today she had accepted the recommendations “in full”.

What will it cost?

The STRB estimated its recommendations would cost around £1.65 billion over a whole school year.

Will schools get extra money?

The government has said today it will hand schools almost £1.2 billion to go towards the cost of both teacher and support staff pay rises.

But it’s worth noting that this money is to cover the seven-month period from September until the end the financial year in March, at which point the funding for the pay rises will be rolled into the national funding formula.

It’s also worth noting that negotiations over the proposed support staff pay award for the current financial year – at least £1,290 for all workers – are still ongoing and usually aren’t settled until well into the autumn.

The DfE has published mainstream schools and high needs funding rates, to “help schools understand how much additional funding they can expect to receive”.

They have also provided a calculator tool “so that mainstream schools can estimate their grant funding”.

Does that mean it’s fully-funded?

The DfE has said the rises are fully-funded nationally, but schools are going to have to put some of their own money into the deal.

A school costs technical note published earlier this year that there was a £600 million “headroom” in school budgets, which schools will be expected to tap into.

Can all schools afford this?

Unions and other sector bodies have welcomed the pay announcement and funding.

Leora Cruddas, CEO of the Confederation of School Trusts, welcomed the government’s “recognition of the need to fully fund it”, while Daniel Kebede, of the National Education Union said the “£1.2 billion investment to fund this pay award will be welcome news to school leaders”.

But while £1.2 billion would be enough to cover the 5.5 per cent teacher pay rise over the seven month period covered, there’s support staff pay to factor in too once the negotiations are complete.

That means schools will be dipping into that “headroom” the government identified earlier this year.

However, that is still just the national picture. Some schools will have more leeway in their budgets than others, while others will struggle to find the cash to top up the government’s investment.

A big concern will be about special schools, which employ far greater numbers of support staff than maintained schools.

Where is the extra money coming from?

The Treasury. But the DfE has agreed to take part in proposals announced by Reeves today to find billions in departmental savings.

One area where money will be saved is the Advanced British Standard, Rishi Sunak’s flagship plan for a new qualification to replace A-levels and T-levels. That was going to cost £200 million next year, and £3 billion by 2028-29, the DfE said.

When will schools get the funding?

In November this year, local authorities will receive the money for mainstream maintained schools and special schools.

And in December this year, academies will receive their funding.

The DfE said it expected to publish school level and local authorities’ allocations in September 2024.

How much funding will schools receive?

Each primary pupil will attract a basic rate of £76, while key stage 3 pupils will attract £108 and key stage 4 pupils £122.

Each school will also receive a £2,900 lump sum. Primaries will then receive an extra £70 for every pupil who has been eligible for free school meals at some point in the past six years, while secondaries will receive an extra £100.

Do councils need to pass on all the funding?

Councils will have “flexibility in how they pass on the allocations of CSBG funding for special schools and AP  schools to those individual schools”.

This flexibility “recognises that the teachers’ pay and other costs they face can vary considerably between individual schools, depending on the complexity of their pupils’ needs and other factors”.

However, councils will be required to pass 100 per cent of funding allocated to schools, use “transparent criteria to distribute funding…treating academies and maintained schools the same” and consult with schools on their methodology.

What happens now?

A 10-week consultation on the government’s response to the STRB.

The DfE has acknowledged that this will extend beyond September 1, so the final pay deal will have to be back-dated.

Unions will also put the deal to members, who are likely to accept it.

Has anything else been announced?

Yes. Reeves told Parliament earlier that she would “consider options to reform the timetable for responding to the pay review bodies in the future”.

This will be welcome news for school leaders, who every year are forced to set budgets without knowing exactly what the teacher pay rise will be.

The government has also confirmed it is proceeding with plans to remove the requirement for schools to use performance-related pay.

And ministers will update the school teachers pay and conditions document to clarify that teachers “can carry out their planning time at home, improving flexible working for staff”.