Schools’ HR Advisory Service
Dear Colleague,
School teachers’ pay award 2015/16
The 2015 School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) has now been
finalised and was published on 10 August 2015. It is anticipated that discussions on school
pay policies including decisions on what pay award to apply will already be taking place or
be scheduled. The LGA and DfE have produced documents to assist with those
discussions. This document seeks replicate the key points published by those bodies for
Headteachers, Governing Bodies, School Business Managers and those dealing with HR
and finance to consider.
The principles underlying the core non-pay conditions remain unchanged.
The 2015 STPCD contains figures for the following salary ranges:





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Leadership range
Head teacher group ranges
Main Pay Range
Upper Pay Range
Unqualified range
Leading Practitioner range
It does not specify pay points within the minima and maxima of these ranges.
The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) recommendations for the pay award for
2015/16 have been accepted in full by the Government. These recommendations, which
relate to the national pay ranges, rather than to the pay of individual teachers, are as
follows:





1% uplift to the minima of all the pay ranges
1% uplift to the maxima of the Upper Pay Range, Unqualified Range and Leading
Practitioner range
2% uplift to the maximum of the Main Pay Range
No uplift to the maximum of the Leadership Pay Range
No uplift to the maxima of the eight Headteacher group ranges
Individual school pay policies for 2014/15 will have set out the basis for determining the
level of any pay progression for the school’s teachers, including the Headteacher, from 1
September 2015.
All pay decisions must be made on objective criteria so that there is no discriminatory effect
on any teacher or group of teachers with a particular protected characteristic under the
Equality Act 2010. Schools are free to withhold progression pay without any requirement to
initiate or consider capability proceedings. There should be scope, where justified by
consistently excellent performance, for the most able teachers to progress rapidly.
It is up to each school to decide for itself how best to implement the arrangements and
develop its policies accordingly. No single approach will suit all schools. School appraisal
policies need to continue to reflect the links between performance and pay.
In September 2015 it will be a statutory requirement to uplift the salary of teachers paid on
the minima of the ranges by 1%, i.e. to ensure no teacher is paid below the national range.
Other than this, whilst schools are not obliged to do so, they may decide to set their own
pay points within a pay range in their local policies, if they judge it appropriate to their
needs. One option is to continue to use the previous pay scale points (uprated as
appropriate) as the basis for an annual pay award.
For those schools using the HCC payroll solution offered via Serco it should be noted that
from 01 September, adjustments will be made to ensure those being paid on the bottom of
a range have their pay adjusted, ensuring each school is compliant with the statutory pay
framework.
Whilst previously indicating that it would not do so the LGA has produced such points, set
out in Appendix 1. Hertfordshire has continued to produce reference points to date to offer a
framework for consideration since they were removed from the STPCD. The figures for
inner and outer London have been removed to avoid confusion as they do not apply in
Hertfordshire. The England and Wales figures are for those schools outside of the fringe
area.
Under Section 3, Paragraph 5, the STPCD states; “When making their annual pay
determinations, relevant bodies will need to consider how to apply uplifts set out in Part 2 of
the Document to individual salaries and pay ranges, and how to take account of the uplift to
the national framework in making individual pay progression decisions”.
Note that Appendix 1 contains two values for the maximum point of the Main Pay Range,
demonstrating the values of both a 1% and a 2% uplift. The LGA do not specifically
recommend the adoption of either a 1% or a 2% uplift to the salaries of teachers at the top
of the Main Pay Range, but merely provide the figures for both, a position which Herts for
Learning mirrors. This is because, notwithstanding the 2% uplift to the maxima of the
national range, relevant bodies have the option of differentiating the award at the maximum
if their 2014 pay and appraisal policies provide a sound evidence-based process for doing
so.
The 2% uplift to the maxima of the main pay range from September 2015 does not mean
that all teachers currently on the maxima should receive a salary increase of 2% – a 2%
increase should only be awarded where it is merited by performance.
Freezing of the maximum point of the leadership group range and the maxima of the eight
Headteacher group ranges does not mean those points must be frozen where they apply
when a Headteacher who is not at the top of a school group range; or to a Deputy or
Assistant Headteacher. For this reason Appendix 1 contains alternative values for these
points, one set remaining at 2014 levels, the other uplifted by 1%.
For the avoidance of doubt, Headteachers on the maximum of their Headteacher pay group
will not be eligible for pay progression from September 2015.
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Schools generally have greater flexibility to decide how they wish to reward their leadership
teams to reflect individual performance and the challenges of the post. However the pay of
Headteachers or leadership teams in post only have to be reviewed when there have been
significant changes to responsibilities since September 2014.
Note that ultimately it is for schools to determine how they translate the uplift to the national
ranges in to their own pay decisions, ensuring that they are consistent with the provisions of
the school’s pay policy.
For those schools using the HCC payroll solution offered via Serco it should be noted that
from 01 September, adjustments will be made to ensure that all those being paid on the
bottom of a range have their pay adjusted ensuring that each school is compliant with the
pay framework.
The Performance Related Pay screen for teachers will be open from September, however
schools should not amend records until appraisal recommendations have been approved
by the Governing Body.
In August all teachers on the HCC payroll were moved to a M0, U0 and L0 salary point
which in effect is a free entry facility in the pay system. The reference points have been
uplifted to take account of the STRB recommendations. Main Range points 1-5, Upper Pay
Range points 1-3, the Leading Practitioner Range and Leadership Range points 1-42 have
been uplifted by 1%. Main Range point 6 has been uplifted by 2% and Leadership Range
point 43 has not been uplifted.
TLRs and SEN allowances have been uplifted to comply with the statutory ranges, for these
allowances only; schools will be invited to submit a spreadsheet of the uplifts that they wish
to apply. In future it is hoped that these will be incorporated into the Performance Related
Pay portal screen, enabling schools to submit the uplifts determined by the Governing Body
for those allowances.
The HCC payroll system does not contain group size information. It has therefore not been
possible to build in functionality to address the requirement to not apply an award to
Headteachers paid at the top of their group. Governing Bodies will need to consider
whether this applies to them before confirming the position to apply to their Headteacher.
Pay policies:
Schools must ensure their pay policies are clear that performance-related progression
provides the basis for all decisions on pay, for classroom teachers and leaders.
Schools should review their pay and appraisal policies annually to clarify their approach to
making performance-based pay decisions, and to set out how pay decisions will take
account of performance in applying any uplift to the national pay range framework.
The DfE guidance related to the implementation of the 2015 STPCD may be found via the
following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/452050/Imple
menting-your-school_s-approach-to-pay.pdf
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LEADERSHIP GROUP PAY RANGE
Discretionary Reference Points 2015/16
England & Wales
Fringe
2015
2015
2014
2014
38,598
39,660
1
38,215
39,267
39,564
40,629
2
39,172
40,226
40,552
41,616
3
40,150
41,203
41,562
42,631
4
41,150
42,208
42,597
43,667
5
42,175
43,234
43,665
44,733
6
43,232
44,290
44,841
45,911
7
44,397
45,456
45,876
46,939
8
45,421
46,474
47,021
48,088
9
46,555
47,611
48,228
49,295
10
47,750
48,806
49,481
50,544
11
48,991
50,043
50,620
51,690
12
50,118
51,178
51,886
52,956
13
51,372
52,431
53,180
54,247
14
52,653
53,709
54,503
55,566
15
53,963
55,015
55,951
57,020
16
55,397
56,455
57,237
58,312
17
56,670
57,734
58,096
59,151
18*
58,096
59,151
58,677
59,743
18
58,096
59,151
60,131
61,198
19
59,535
60,592
61,623
62,694
20
61,012
62,073
62,521
63,585
21*
62,521
63,585
63,147
64,221
21
62,521
63,585
64,715
65,785
22
64,074
65,133
66,318
67,383
23
65,661
66,715
67,290
68,350
24*
67,290
68,350
67,963
69,034
24
67,290
68,350
69,652
70,717
25
68,962
70,016
71,375
72,446
26
70,668
71,728
72,419
73,474
27*
72,419
73,474
73,144
74,209
27
72,419
73,474
74,958
76,022
28
74,215
75,269
76,814
77,884
29
76,053
77,112
78,726
79,789
30
77,946
78,999
79,872
80,932
31*
79,872
80,932
80,671
81,742
31
79,872
80,932
82,676
83,747
32
81,857
82,917
84,731
85,801
33
83,892
84,951
86,825
87,896
34
85,965
87,025
88,102
89,162
35*
88,102
89,162
88,984
90,054
35
88,102
89,162
91,187
92,254
36
90,284
91,340
93,454
94,521
37
92,528
93,585
95,766
96,833
38
94,817
95,874
97,128
98,182
39*
97,128
98,182
98,100
99,164
39
97,128
98,182
4
100,548
101,619
40
99,552
100,612
103,060
104,128
41
102,039
103,097
105,642
106,712
42
104,596
105,655
107,210
108,271
43
107,210
108,271
* Scale points to be applied only to Headteachers at the
top of the school group range in the academic year
2014/15, indicating no uplift for 2015/16.
MAIN PAY RANGE
Discretionary Reference Points 2015/16
England & Wales
2015
2014
22,244
Minimum
M1
22,023
24,002
M2
23,764
25,932
M3
25,675
27,927
M4
27,650
30,128
M5
29,829
32,509
M6a
32,187
32,831
Maximum M6b
Fringe
2015
2014
23,313
23,082
25,070
24,821
26,999
26,731
29,001
28,713
31,196
30,887
33,577
33,244
33,909
UPPER PAY RANGE
Discretionary Reference Points 2015/16
England & Wales
Fringe
2015
2015
2014
2014
35,218
36,287
Minimum
U1
34,869
35,927
36,523
37,590
U2
36,161
37,217
37,871
38,941
Maximum
U3
37,496
38,555
UNQUALIFIED TEACHER PAY RANGE
Discretionary Reference Points 2015/16
England & Wales
2015
2014
16,298
Minimum
1
16,136
18,194
2
18,013
20,088
3
19,889
21,984
4
21,766
23,881
5
23,644
25,776
Maximum
6
25,520
Fringe
2015
2014
17,368
17,196
19,262
19,071
21,158
20,948
23,053
22,824
24,949
24,701
26,843
26,577
Leading Practitioner Range 2015/16
England and Wales
£38,598 to £58,677
Fringe
£39,660 to £59,743
Additional Allowance Ranges
TLR3
TLR2
TLR1
SEN
£517 to £2,577
£2,613 to £6,386
£7,546 to £12,770
£2,064 to £4,075
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