WORKING IN UL ACADEMIES
– AN NUT GUIDE (FEBRUARY
2013)
This guidance document gives a brief overview of employment in United Learning (UL)
operated Academies. It sets out information about:
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The UL and its Academy programme
The national trade union recognition agreement
Pay and conditions of service
Employment policies and procedures
The UL operates common pay and conditions for employees and central negotiating
machinery, within which the Union negotiates alongside the other recognised
teaching and support staff unions. Arrangements have been established within the
NUT for consultation and communication with NUT divisions, Academy
representatives and members.
Detailed information about pay and conditions of service in Academies can be found
in the NUT document Teachers’ Pay and Conditions in Academies: Guidance for NUT
Members at http://www.teachers.org.uk/academies-pay-and-conditions
ABOUT UNITED LEARNING
The United Learning Trust (ULT) had previously operated as one of two linked charities with
the other, the United Church Schools Trust (UCST), running a chain of independent schools.
Now these two linked charities have been brought together as United Learning (UL).
Founded in 2002, it is a subsidiary of the United Church Schools Trust (UCST), an education
charity established around 100 years ago which runs a chain of private fee-charging schools.
The UL Academies operate on a non denominational basis but follow the Christian,
specifically Church of England, ethos of its parent organisation.
The UL website is http://www.ucst.org.uk/.
UL ACADEMIES
At the time of writing the UL had 21 open Academies and had plans to open 6 more. They
are:
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Manchester
o Manchester Academy (open Sept 2003)
o William Hulme Grammar School (open Sept 2007)
Lambeth – Lambeth Academy (open Sept 2004)
Northampton
o Northampton Academy (open Sept 2004)
o Kettering Buccleuch Academy (open Sept 2009)
Salford – Salford City Academy (open Sept 2005)
Barnsley – Barnsley Academy (open Sept 2006)
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Westminster
o Paddington Academy (open Sept 2006)
o Wilberforce Primary School (due to open Sept 2013)
Waltham Forest - Walthamstow Academy (open Sept 2006)
Sheffield
o Sheffield Park Academy (open Sept 2006)
o Sheffield Springs Academy (open Sept 2006)
Oxfordshire
o North Oxfordshire Academy Banbury (open Sept 2007)
o Hanwell Fields Community School (open March 2012)
Stockport – Stockport Academy (open Sept 2007)
Swindon – Swindon Academy (open Sept 2007)
Lancashire - Accrington Moorhead Academy (open Sept 2008)
West Sussex
o Midhurst Rother College (open Jan 2009)
o Shorham Academy (open Sept 2009)
o The Regis School (open Jan 2012)
o Southway Primary School (open Sept 2012)
Leeds – John Smeaton Community College (due to open May 2013)
Poole – Carter Community School (due to open April 2013)
Portsmouth
o Kings Chase Primary Academy (open Jan 2013)
o The Victory Primary School (due to open May 2013)
Wiltshire – Kings Park Primary School (due to open Jan 2013)
Bournemouth – Winton Arts and Media College (due to open Sept 2013)
It has also been reported that the two Richard Rose Trust Academies in Cumbria are to
‘partner’ the UL.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT
A national recognition agreement in respect of UL Academies came into effect in February
2005. The agreement was signed by the UL, teacher unions - ATL, NAHT, NASUWT, NUT
and Voice – and for support staff, the signatory union is Unison.
The agreement provides for national determination of arrangements for pay, conditions of
service and working time across UL Academies. The agreement also provides for a joint
consultation and negotiation committee in each Academy as well as for time off with pay and
facilities time for trade union representatives. The agreement was revised in 2010 and now
includes specific provision for local discussion of issues within each individual Academy that
have an impact on terms and conditions of service.
The UL recognition agreement may be found in the pay and conditions>academies section at
www.teachers.org.uk.
PAY AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
In General
All Academies are able to set their own pay, conditions and working time arrangements for
newly appointed teachers joining the Academy. In some Academies, pay and conditions
arrangements for such teachers are similar or identical to those for teachers in local authority
maintained state schools. In others, teachers’ pay and conditions can be very different.
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Teachers transferred from predecessor schools replaced by an Academy are covered by
the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). The
TUPE regulations provide that, where an Academy replaces an existing school(s), teachers’
previous pay and conditions entitlements transfer. These include statutory provisions on
pay, professional duties and working time and national and local agreements on teachers’
conditions of service, redundancy payments and recognition of the NUT as a trade union.
Where the Academy is a new institution, however, all teachers are in the first category of
newly appointed teacher and no teachers are protected by TUPE.
UL Academies
The UL does not apply the STPCD pay structure and working time arrangements or
Burgundy Book agreement on conditions of service. The UL has, instead, its own separate
pay and conditions structure. The UL’s arrangements are, however, closely related to those
in LA maintained state schools though there are some key differences.
The UL pay structure and pay processes do, however, lack transparency. They contain
discretionary and subjective factors. The UL pay structure does not provide for separate
allowances. There is no automatic link to the national annual teachers’ pay increase. The
annual increase for all UL teachers is subject to annual negotiation.
The UL declined to make any offer on pay for September 2012 in line with the Government’s
public sector pay freeze although it did agree to pay £250 to those earning less than £22,000
FTE.
Classroom Teachers’ Pay
UL classroom teachers without additional responsibilities are paid on two incremental scales,
similar to the Main and Upper Pay Scales:
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The Professional Teacher Scale is broadly equivalent to the STPCD’s Main Pay
Scale. The PT scale has two sections: Professional Teacher 1 (PT1); used for
teachers with up to two years post qualification experience; and Professional Teacher
2 (PT2) used for teachers with more than two years and up to six years post
qualification experience. Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) will normally be placed on
the first point of the PT1 section. Previous teaching and other relevant experience
may, however, be taken into account for NQTs in order to allow a higher starting
point. Progression is assessed on an annual basis following performance review and
tends to be automatic providing performance is satisfactory.
The Experienced Professional Teacher Scale is broadly equivalent to the STPCD’s
Upper Pay Scale but applies only to teachers who do not have any additional or
specific leadership or management responsibilities. Teachers with six years of
teaching post qualification are automatically eligible to apply for progression to the
EPT scale. The assessment will be made according to the STPCD’s post-threshold
standards. The EPT scale has six incremental points, compared to the three points of
the UPS. Pay progression will reflect performance as assessed on an annual basis.
Not all teachers are expected to reach the top of the scale but are encouraged to do
so. Progress beyond the maximum of point 6 to the top is dependent on “consistently
outstanding performance”.
The values of the two UL scales tend to be slightly higher than the corresponding points of
the Main and Upper Pay Scales. Pay progression is intended to operate in the same way as
progression on the STPCD pay structure.
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Leadership Group Pay
UL classroom teachers who have additional responsibilities are paid on three separate
Leadership and Management (L&M) pay bands, rather than receiving separate responsibility
payments in addition to basic pay. The UL envisages a majority of postholders being paid on
these bands.
Pay progression on the first L&M pay band is intended to operate in much the same way as
progression on the STPCD pay structure. The criteria for progression on the second and
third L&M pay bands refer to progression only for “consistently outstanding performance”.
Teacher Leader Pay
EPT teachers who are judged to be “consistently outstanding” classroom teachers and who
do not have any additional management responsibility may be promoted to the position of
Teacher Leader. There is no pay scale and no upper limit. A teacher’s starting point takes
into account the teacher’s current pay position, experience, and the specific Teacher Leader
role being offered. Progression is dependent on “consistently outstanding performance”.
Pay Awards
Pay awards for teachers have two components: a general pay award and an individual pay
award. The general pay award for those on UL contracts is effective from 1 September each
year. The individual pay award, if paid, is determined according to a range of factors (eg
number of years post-qualification experience, whether teacher has met threshold
requirements, performance etc.). The UL may supplement pay scales and bands via ‘market
supplements’ which, if paid, are in addition to teachers’ pay. In some cases a recruitment
bonus may also be paid. The UL pay policy also makes provision for “market supplements” –
these can be related to perceived recruitment/retention issues such as skills shortages or
what UL call “job specific variations.”
Working Time
The working time arrangements for newly appointed teachers in UL Academies are an
annual working time limit of 195 working days, of which 9 are to be allocated for CPD
purposes; a weekly working time limit of 37.5 hours; an entitlement to 20% safeguarded time
within this weekly working time used principally for planning, preparation and assessment
(PPA) purposes; and an expectation of additional hours where necessary in the teacher’s
own time. These provisions are supplemented by the UL Code of Practice on Working Time.
The weekly hours, when annualised, total an annual maximum of around 1462.5 hours of
working time compared to an annual maximum of 1265 hours in LA maintained schools.
When the respective entitlements to 20% safeguarded time and 10% PPA time are taken into
account, this means that the annual maximum of directable working time for teachers in UL
Academies is around, 1170 hours compared to 1139.5 hours in LA maintained schools.
EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
There are a number of employment policies and procedures for UL teachers. They include:
UL pay policy: performance management; working time; sick leave and pay; maternity leave
and pay; paternity leave and pay including adoption; adoption leave and pay; parental leave;
equal opportunities; harassment and bullying; time off for emergencies involving dependants;
flexible working; part time and flexible working; capability procedure; disciplinary procedure;
grievance procedure; model appraisal policy; and UL professional teaching standards for
entry level teachers, experienced teachers and for leaders and managers. It is important to
note that not all employment policies and procedures have been agreed with the trade
unions.
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Recently, the unions agreed final versions of improved time off guidelines, protocols to
accompany the improvements to the UL disciplinary and grievance policies and an improved
capability procedure.
The UL retains predecessor LA policies and procedures for all employees, pending
agreement on UL policies that would apply to newly appointed staff in all Academies. The
Union’s view is that the policies agreed with UL are applicable only to UL appointed staff.
Predecessor LA policies should remain applicable to transferred staff by virtue of TUPE.
Recently, a review group with trade union involvement is being established to look at
performance management / appraisal.
NUT representatives should have access to these documents via the UL ‘Biecloud’ intranet
or policy hub.
NUT SSEE Dept.
February 2013
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