Commenting as NAHT, alongside other education unions, submits its evidence on teacher and school leader pay to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) consultation, which closes at 10am today (Tues 14^th Sept ), Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, the largest union for school leaders, said

“School leaders and teachers will be rightly angry that the government’s pay freeze will deliver yet another a real terms pay cut next year, based on the Treasury’s own predictions of inflation, and given how national insurance, energy costs and retail prices are rising across the economy. A slap in the face doesn’t begin to describe it.

“The teaching profession has long struggled to recruit and retain school leaders – NAHT’s survey evidence shows that the leadership pipeline is broken at all career stages. Too few experienced teachers want to step up to senior leadership positions and even fewer can be persuaded to take on the heavy responsibilities of a head teacher.

“This pay cut risks further eroding leadership supply, and risks prompting an exodus of leaders when the pandemic finally lifts.

“Government has repeatedly constrained the Review Body’s work – this must end. The STRB must be able to do its work, free from government interference. The STRB understand the teaching workforce supply issues and once again this year asked government to allow it to review the pay structure for teachers and leaders, but was denied.

“We urgently need government to take the STRB’s warnings seriously and to act on them, to support the retention of experienced teachers and leaders, and to resolve the leadership supply crisis.”