Select Committee on Education and Skills Minutes of Evidence


Further memorandum submitted by the Department for Education and Skills

HEARING ON THE DEPARTMENTAL REPORT

  1.  The memorandum submitted by the Department on 19 June referred to the pressures on schools due to teachers' salary costs.

  2.  The Government has given priority to recognising the work of teachers and has improved the salary levels markedly.

  3.  A teacher who joined on point 2 in 1997 (£14,280 pa-£16,341 in inner London) would, by normal salary progression, be on point M6 on 1 September 2003 (£26,460 pa-£30,000 in inner London), a real increase of 68.2% (66.6% in inner London)

  4.  An experienced teacher on the maximum (point 9) in 1997 will have seen their basic pay increase by 12.7% (16.5% in inner London) in real terms since 1997. If they passed the threshold it will have increased in real terms by 22.1% (32% in inner London) and if they have moved to the second point of the upper pay scale, the increase is 26.6% (38.5% in inner London).

  5.  The minimum salary for a head has increased by 24.7% (34.8% in inner London) in real terms since 1997 and the maximum has increased by 41.2% (45.4% in inner London).

  6.  The following table shows how the average salary levels have risen:

TEACHERS' AVERAGE SALARY IN ENGLAND (c)
Average Salary Year on Year Growth
March 1997(a)£22,930
March 1998(a)£23,570 2.8%
March 1999(a)£24,460 3.8%
March 2000(a)£25,410 3.9%
March 2001(a)£27,210 7.1%
March 2002 (estimate)(b)£28,400 4.4%
March 2003 (estimate)(b)4.5% to 5.5%

Notes

(a)  Average salary data from March 1997 to March 2001 were taken from the Database of teacher records.

(b)  March 2002 and March 2003 average salaries and growth are provisional estimates based on the pay surveys of the Office of Manpower Economics.

(c)  All figures refer to full-time qualified regular teachers employed in the English maintained sector, and covers classroom teachers, heads and deputy heads.

  7.  As noted in our earlier memorandum the effect of these increases will affect particular local authorities and schools differently, especially as the majority of the education budget is spent on teachers' salaries.

June 2003


 
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