NUT SUBMISSIONS TO THE SCHOOL TEACHERS’ REVIEW BODY 2003
This document sets out the two submissions which the National Union of Teachers has made to the School Teachers’ Review Body on teachers’ pay and related matters for 2004.
The first section of this document sets out the submission made by the NUT in September 2003, which deals principally with teachers’ salary levels. In it, the NUT makes the case for a significant salary increase for teachers at all stages of their career and at all levels in the profession. The submission makes an evidence-based case drawing upon the latest statistics on teacher supply, including recruitment to teacher training, turnover and retention, vacancies and subject shortages, shortages at senior staff level, and equal opportunities issues. The submission also considers the relative position of teachers’ pay and the shortfalls which exist at all stages from starting salaries to mid and later career. The submission also considers the NUT’s case for a substantial increase in London and Fringe Area allowances. Finally, it sets out the NUT’s views on a number of issues relating to PRP and the Upper Pay Scale, calling again for the removal of performance related pay/payment by results in favour of proper professional levels of pay for all teachers.
The second section sets out the submission made by the NUT and UCAC in July 2003 on a range of other issues. This submission sets out the response by the NUT and UCAC to, in particular, the Government’s proposals for extending regional and local approaches to pay, structural changes to management, recruitment & retention and SEN allowances, extending PRP to the Main Pay Scale, changing the pay date and multi-year pay awards.
NUT SUBMISSION TO THE SCHOOL TEACHERS’ REVIEW BODY ON TEACHER SALARIES AND P.R.P.
September 2003
Executive Summary
Teacher Supply
Current recruitment targets are not being met, adding to the more severe shortfalls in recruitment in previous years. Only five of the fourteen secondary subjects recruited at target in 2002-03. (Paragraphs 2.9-2.10.)
While there have been some improvements in recruitment to ITT, the extent of these improvements is not such as to mean that previous years of under-recruitment have been made good. (Paragraph 3.11.)
The continuing serious problems of retention, combined with the problems of recruitment, mean that the profession faces a challenge on two fronts. (Paragraph 4.1.)
The full extent of the problem of teacher staffing continues to be hidden by the absence of good, up-to-date information on issues such as subject mismatch. (Paragraph 6.1.)
There are also serious problems of recruitment and retention among senior staff. (Paragraph 7.4-7.5.)
The relatively low percentage of men in the profession emphasises the fact that there is still a long way to go in attracting the widest possible number of potential applicants to the profession. (Paragraph 8.1.)
Women continue to be seriously under-represented at senior levels of the profession. (Paragraph 8.7.)
The serious consequences of the age imbalance of the teaching profession move ever closer. (Paragraph 8.10.)
The position on recruitment and retention therefore remains a matter of serious concern. (Paragraph 9.1.)
Teachers’ Salary Levels
Teachers are in a disadvantaged position relative to other graduates in terms of starting salary and salary progression. There is a gap between teachers’ starting salary and the average graduate starting salary of around 12 per cent. This gap widens as other graduates benefit from better rates of salary progression. (Paragraphs 10.5 and 10.12.)
Teachers’ average pay has declined relative to average non-manual pay since 1992, the ratio of teachers’ to non-manual pay falling by around 8 per cent between 1992 and 2002. (Paragraphs 11.1-11.5.)
There is a need for a salary increase which ensures that teachers’ salaries at all stages of their careers are competitive with those of competing areas of graduate employment. (Paragraph 11.10.)
The current salary levels for senior staff are inadequate to meet the serious problems of recruitment and retention of such staff. (Paragraph 7.6.)
All teachers in Inner London should receive an allowance of no less than £6,000, with teachers in Outer London receiving £4,500 and those in the Fringe areas £2,500. (Paragraph 12.14.)
Post Threshold Pay
The present salary structure should be replaced by one that allows automatic progression to a salary level no less than the present top of the upper pay scale. (Paragraph 13.3.)
The current review process could be improved with an appeals system similar to that in existence for teachers in sixth-form colleges. (Paragraph 13.12.)
The Government’s proposals on progression to UPS3 represent a broken promise, with the proposed introduction of a quota system for progression on the upper pay scale. (Paragraph 13.15.)
Proposals to limit progression to a third of teachers will militate against the achievement of consistency in salary decisions as it would be impossible to ensure that objective standards applied in all schools. (Paragraph 13.20.)
The STRB must maintain its position on the issue of the DfES’ attempts to impose a quota system upon a process which is standards-based. (Paragraph 13.24.)
The STRB faces an extremely important and challenging task in making its recommendations and should it simply meet the Government’s wishes irreparable damage will be done to the education service and to the credibility of the STRB. (Paragraph 14.1.)
INTRODUCTION
1.1This submission to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) is made on behalf of the National Union of Teachers (NUT). It is in respect of the further issues set out in the Secretary of State’s remit letter of 11 July 2003 and supplements our earlier evidence to the STRB on the longer-term issues.
1.2 In her letter of 1 August 2002 setting out the remit of the STRB for the period 2003 to 2006, the then Secretary of State Estelle Morris included in the considerations to which the STRB was to have regard:
“the need for all schools to recruit, retain and motivate sufficient teachers and members of the leadership group of the required quality, and required subject specialisms, to deal effectively with the challenges they face.”
1.3 The current Secretary of State’s remit letter of 11 July 2003 also noted that the STRB was to give consideration to this issue.
1.4 Our view is that recruitment and retention problems lie at the core of the difficulties faced by schools, and that addressing the poor position of teachers relative to other graduates in terms of salary is essential to tackling these recruitment and retention problems. In the past we have highlighted serious problems relating to the supply of teachers. We have made a direct link between those problems and the disadvantaged position of teachers relative to comparable professions in terms of salary levels and salary progression.
1.5 In this submission we once again draw the attention of the STRB and the Government to deep-rooted problems of teacher supply. This is done with reference to objective evidence supporting our concerns.
1.6 The STRB and the Government have failed to make an effective and appropriate response to the evidence on teacher supply. The reason for this is that they have resisted the evidence of the link between the poor position of teachers relative to comparable professions in salary terms and the problems in recruiting and retaining teachers.
1.7 Notwithstanding the failure of the STRB and the Government to respond appropriately in the past, we continue to present both the scale of the problems and the way to tackle them on the basis of clear, objective evidence.
TEACHER SUPPLY
2Recruitment to Initial Teacher Training (ITT)
2.1 Difficulties in attracting people to courses of ITT lie at the root of the problem of teacher supply. These difficulties are not new, but have continued over a number of years. The long-standing nature of the problem means that the profession has accrued what amounts to a backlog of shortfalls in recruitment, the consequences of which have an adverse impact on the delivery of education. For this reason it is necessary to look at not only the latest data, but at the historical context of that data.
2.2 There is some recent evidence of an increase in the number of applicants to courses of ITT. Yet this represents a relative improvement rather than an absolute improvement. The figures are better than those of recent years, but the sum total of even the better figures does not mean that we have enough trainee teachers coming into the profession. Even the recent increases in numbers leave shortfalls in the number of people the profession needs to recruit.
2.3 In addition, there is continuing evidence that teaching is not proving to be attractive compared to other graduate occupations. The latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) give details for applications to full-time undergraduate courses at UK universities and colleges by 30 June 2003. UCAS provided data showing applications by subject. Analysis of this data shows that whereas applications for degree courses in all subjects were up by 4.5 per cent applications for the Training Teachers subject area were up by only 0.1 per cent. At the same time subject areas relating to other professions enjoyed double-digit percentage increases. UCAS noted in its news release that notable increases in applications for degree courses included social work (up by 43.6 per cent) and nursing (up by 16.6 per cent).
2.4 The UCAS figures show that teaching is not competing effectively in terms of attracting applicants for undergraduate courses. The fact that the latest figures do not show the sharp declines of recent years should not be taken to mean that the problem has eased. Rather, the failure of undergraduate teacher training to improve even from the low baseline reached as a result of the sharp declines of earlier years should concentrate the minds of the STRB and the Government.
2.5 The increase in the number of people taking postgraduate teacher training courses has been partly offset by the decline in those taking undergraduate courses. The first years of this decade have seen the number of undergraduate trainees fall below 9,000 compared to figures of over 12,000 in the mid-1990s and over 15,000 in the early 1990s. Teaching has failed to attract enough trainees despite substantial increases in the numbers entering higher education.
2.6 The Times Educational Supplement of 8 August 2003 noted that while recruitment had risen by 26 per cent compared to the low point of 1998-99, the recruitment figure was still 20 per cent lower than in 1996-97.
2.7 We need to put current figures in their appropriate historical context. The net result of previous years’ failure to recruit effectively is a cumulative shortfall of recruits over time. Recruitment targets need to address this shortfall as well as current needs.
2.8 In 2002-03, taking undergraduate and postgraduate recruitment together, a provisional figure of 17,930 people were recruited to secondary ITT courses compared to 19,040 training places allocated (or “targets”, as was previously the practice when referring to these figures). The number of secondary ITT recruits represented only 94 per cent of the places allocated, a shortfall of over 1,100 trainees.
2.9 Looking at the recruitment of postgraduate trainees against the places allocated, in 2002-03 only five of the fourteen secondary subjects listed by the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) in its evidence to the STRB on the longer-term issues recruited at or above target. In terms of the proportion of recruitment against target, the position worsened between 2001-02 and 2002-03 in the following five subjects: Design and Technology; Geography; Music; Physical Education; and Religious Education. Six of the subjects, namely Design and Technology, Geography, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Music and Religious Education, had not hit their targets in any of the years 1999-2000 to 2002-03.
2.10 It is clear that current recruitment targets are not being met, adding to the more severe shortfalls in recruitment in previous years.
2.11 The response of the Government to this aspect of the general problem of teacher supply has been to implement a number of targeted recruitment incentives. These currently include training bursaries, repayment of loans and Golden Hellos. A major problem with this approach is that only a limited number of teachers are entitled to such incentives. There is a particular problem with the continued ineligibility of undergraduate trainees for Golden Hellos. These exclusions mean that new teachers not eligible for the incentives and existing teachers who entered the profession before such incentives existed feel alienated by the targeted incentive approach. The reduced applications to BEd courses has particularly affected Early Years education where the BEd syllabus is particularly relevant and helpful.
2.12 The latest figures available from the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) show the position on applicant statistics for 2003 entry as at 25 July 2003. Overall, the figures were up by 14 per cent in England and 9 per cent in Wales. Again, however, the background to these percentage increases needs to be borne in mind. The increases come in the wake of a long period of falling recruitment. As a consequence of this, the large percentage increases often translate into a relatively small number of additional applicants. In Physics, for example, the 23 per cent increase in England translated into 80 additional applicants; in German, the 28 per cent increase in England meant only 73 additional applicants.
2.13 In addition, applications are of course not the same as take-up of places. This is illustrated by the GTTR Annual Statistical Report for 2002. Whereas there was an increase in applications of 32 per cent in 2002 compared with 2001, this translated into an increase in acceptances of only 10 per cent. Barely half of the total number of applicants were accepted, with the remainder either withdrawing their applications or being unplaced. The ratio of acceptances to applicants in 2002 was, at 51 per cent, significantly lower than the 58-61 per cent recorded between 1998 and 2001. Where the rise in applications is accompanied by a significant fall in the proportion of those applicants who are accepted for training, this tells us that the picture on recruitment is not as rosy as the headline applicant figures indicate. The GTTR figures need to be seen in this context.
3Vacancies
3.1 Inadequate recruitment together with the problems of retention cause staffing shortages and vacancies. The DfES continues to place an inappropriate emphasis on the vacancy figures as recorded by the DfES method. The shortcomings of this method have been highlighted before, including by the STRB. In its 2003 Report, the STRB rightly stated that: “the vacancy rate does not reflect the actual extent of recruitment and retention problems.”
3.2 The STRB went on to note that schools use a number of coping strategies which disguise the real position on vacancies. These include a failure to take account of subject mismatch, posts filled on a temporary basis of a term or more and vacancies left unfilled due to budget problems experienced by the school. This last factor will be even more of an issue this year than in previous years. Research shows that not filling vacancies has been one of the coping strategies used by schools who have been affected by the severe financial problems affecting so many in 2003-04. The Secondary Heads’ Association/Times Educational Supplement survey published at the end of August 2003 showed that 2,729 teachers had not been replaced.
3.3 The January 2003 vacancy rate for England shown in the provisional figures issued by the DfES in April 2003 was 0.9 per cent, down from 1.2 per cent in January 2002. Yet this vacancy rate of 0.9 per cent was almost double the 0.5 per cent rate in 1997. The STRB noted in its 2003 Report that it was not convinced that the longer-term trend of an increasing vacancy rate had been reversed and we share this concern.
3.4 Much has been made by the Government of the increase in teacher numbers since 1997. Care needs to be taken, however, with the headline figures. A look at the detail shows that much of the increase is attributable to the greater use of persons without qualified teacher status (QTS).
3.5 Last year we pointed out that some 40 per cent of the increase in the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in England between January 1997 and January 2002 was composed of persons without QTS. Comparing the January 2003 figures to those for January 1997, we can see that the equivalent figure this year is 49 per cent. Some 34 per cent of the 24,700 additional full-time equivalent regular teachers between these dates were overseas trained teachers and instructors without QTS. Another 15 per cent were teachers on employment-based routes to QTS.
3.6 Of the 4,300 increase in regular teachers between 2002 and 2003, only 500 were qualified regular teachers. Even this small increase was only achieved by a sharp increase in part-time teachers. The number of qualified regular full-time teachers actually fell by 1,100 between January 2002 and January 2003. The increase in the number of qualified regular full-time teachers between 1997 and 2003 was only 4,000, or 1 per cent. There are particular concerns on teacher numbers in the nursery and primary sector, where declining rolls have resulted in a fall in the number of full-time teachers on a headcount basis of almost 4,000 between 2001 and 2003.