Teachers’ 2024/25 pay award in Wales

The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) has recommended that teachers in Wales should receive a 4.3% pay uplift for the 2024/25 academic year.

However, the award in England was 5.5% and therefore, because the Welsh Government is subject to a ‘No Detriment’ agreement, there will be a 5.5% pay uplift for teachers in Wales.

Even though the Welsh Government received the report of the IWPRB at the start of July, they did not release it until 10 September. There now has to be a consultation process that will terminate on 7 October 2024.

After that, the Welsh Government will issue a pay order and the responsibility then passes to local authorities. It is therefore likely that the pay uplift, with back pay to September, will be in teachers’ pay by November.

Non-pay conditions

Other than the pay recommendation, the IWPRB made 11 non-pay recommendations which have been accepted by the Welsh Government. These can mean important changes to the working conditions of members.

In brief these are:

  1. Amend the guidance in Section 3 of the STPC(W)D
    Although this sounds very dry, it is actually one of the most important recommendations this year and NASUWT pushed hard for the IWPRB to include it. The STPC(W)D, the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (Wales) Document also known as the Blue Book, is the detailed conditions of service for teachers in Wales. It is complex and some parts are open to different interpretations. There was once a detailed guidance section which Michael Gove removed when he was Education Minister and before education had been devolved to Wales. This has allowed many interpretations that were detrimental to teachers being practised in schools. The enhancement of the Section 3 guidance will help avoid that bad practice.

  2. ALNCOs to be appointed to senior management teams
    This is the first of five recommendations that are aimed at ALNCOs. This is because the ALN Act and Code have greatly increased the responsibility and accountability of ALNCOs. These changes have also been lobbied for by NASUWT as they ensure ALNCOs are appropriately remunerated and given the necessary authority for their work.

  3. ALNCOs move to the leadership pay range
    This supports the previous recommendation. The Welsh Government has allocated £5 million to pay for this.

  4. When the previous recommendation is carried out, there should be no detriment and ALNCOs would be on the same or higher pay level
    This is a technical recommendation that just ensures ALNCOs cannot be paid a lower amount when this is put into practice.

  5. Professional learning package for ALNCOs and the time to access it

  6. Research into appropriate non-contact time for ALNCOs

  7. Update Annex 3 of Section 2 of the STPC(W)D
    This is the famous list of administrative tasks not appropriate for teachers which was won for teachers in the early 2000s. This was also removed by Michael Gove, but reinstated last year by the Welsh Government. However, it needs updating, hence this recommendation.

  8. School leaders to be included as being covered by the administrative tasks in Section 2

  9. Improve the working conditions of school leaders with specific regard to the right to have uninterrupted rest

  10. Discussions should take place on the schedule of the annual pay review process
    This is aimed at the sometimes shambolic annual process of the teachers’ pay review.

  11. Review of the monitoring and reporting of equalities legislation at school and local authority level
    This is a timely swipe at the total lack of equalities monitoring in schools in Wales.

The full IWPRB Report is available on the Gov.Wales web page Written Statement: Report and Recommendations Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB).

Teachers’ pay in 2024/25

The tables produced on our Pay Scales (Wales) page are provisional. The Welsh Government is currently in the process of undertaking a statutory consultation on school teachers’ pay and conditions, which will conclude on 7 October 2024.

Upon conclusion of the consultation process, it is expected that the 5.5% uplift to teachers’ salaries and allowances, which has been accepted by the Welsh Government, will be implemented.

Once the 5.5% pay uplift has been formally implemented, NASUWT will inform members and publish the updated salary tables on the Pay Scales (Wales) page.

Members should note that whilst the Union does not expect any of the provisional salary and allowances amounts to change, NASUWT cannot guarantee that amendments will not be made.

The Union will confirm with members the final salary scales upon conclusion of the statutory consultation on 7 October 2024.

The NASUWT’s evidence to the IWPRB and the IWPRB’s 5th Report are available on the right/below.

Press releases/news in Wales

 


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