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:

  • 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

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

UL ACADEMIES

At the time of writing the UL had21 open Academies and had plans to open 6 more. They are:

  • Manchester
  • ManchesterAcademy (open Sept 2003)
  • WilliamHulmeGrammar School (open Sept 2007)
  • Lambeth – LambethAcademy (open Sept 2004)
  • Northampton
  • NorthamptonAcademy (open Sept 2004)
  • KetteringBuccleuchAcademy (open Sept 2009)
  • Salford – SalfordCityAcademy (open Sept 2005)
  • Barnsley – BarnsleyAcademy (open Sept 2006)
  • Westminster
  • PaddingtonAcademy (open Sept 2006)
  • WilberforcePrimary School (due to open Sept 2013)
  • WalthamForest - WalthamstowAcademy (open Sept 2006)
  • Sheffield
  • SheffieldParkAcademy (open Sept 2006)
  • SheffieldSpringsAcademy (open Sept 2006)
  • Oxfordshire
  • North Oxfordshire Academy Banbury (open Sept 2007)
  • HanwellFieldsCommunitySchool (open March 2012)
  • Stockport – StockportAcademy (open Sept 2007)
  • Swindon – SwindonAcademy (open Sept 2007)
  • Lancashire - AccringtonMoorheadAcademy (open Sept 2008)
  • West Sussex
  • MidhurstRotherCollege (open Jan 2009)
  • ShorhamAcademy (open Sept 2009)
  • The RegisSchool (open Jan 2012)
  • SouthwayPrimary School (open Sept 2012)
  • Leeds – JohnSmeatonCommunity College (due to open May 2013)
  • Poole – CarterCommunitySchool (due to open April 2013)
  • Portsmouth
  • KingsChasePrimaryAcademy (open Jan 2013)
  • The VictoryPrimary School (due to open May 2013)
  • Wiltshire – KingsParkPrimary 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 acrossUL 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 ULrecognition agreement may be found in the pay and conditions>academies section at

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.

Teachers transferred from predecessor schoolsreplaced 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 LAmaintained state schools thoughthere 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 2012in 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:

  • The Professional Teacher Scaleis 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 Scaleis 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.

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. Ateacher’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 arean 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; andan expectation of additional hours where necessary in the teacher’s own time. These provisions are supplemented by theUL 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:ULpay 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 ULprofessional 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.

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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