LTE Group calls for action on college teacher pay

LTE Group has called for intervention on teacher pay across the further education sector after a new report highlighted a growing gap between the pay of school and college staff, leading to a retention crisis in the sector.

A new report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that the average salary of a college teacher is now 21% lower than that of a schoolteacher, the largest it has been since at least 2010-11.

The report also highlighted that the percentage of college teachers leaving the profession after three years (50%) is almost double that of schoolteachers leaving the profession (27%) in the same period, creating a staffing retention crisis in the sector.

The findings have prompted LTE Group to call for government action on staff pay to ensure that the sector is able to recruit and retain the skilled teachers required to ensure that communities can develop the high skills required to fill vacancies in the labour market and drive economic growth.

LTE Group CEO John Thornhill said: “The future of technical and professional education in the UK hinges on colleges being able to attract and retain people to develop the technicians, digital pioneers and health professionals of the future. As such, if the further education sector is to play its role in delivering on the local, regional and national skills agendas, it is critical that it is able to recruit and retain the talented teachers and practitioners that are essential to equipping learners with the skills and knowledge that employers and the economy are crying out for.

“To achieve this, it is vital that the sector is able to reward staff and make teaching in colleges an attractive proposition. Equalising pay with schoolteachers will go some way to empowering us to do this which, according to the Association of Colleges, will require an additional £400m of funding from the government into the sector.

“Without this being address the government is putting the success of its flagship T Level programme, which relies on colleges being able to recruit practitioners from industry to deliver the qualification to a standard that ensures learners are work-ready at the end of their studies, in jeopardy. The ability to offer attractive pay to advanced professionals in industries ranging from plumbing and logistics to health and coding, will be essential if we are to persuade them to come and work in further education to deliver high quality technical education programmes.  

“Ultimately, without funding being provided for staff pay, the promise of a new vibrant technical and professional skills plan for the UK will fail another generation of young people and hold the economy back at a critical time for the country.” 

The IFS report can be found in full here: What has happened to college teacher pay in England? | Institute for Fiscal Studies (ifs.org.uk)
 

The AoC response can be found here: AoC responds to Institute for Fiscal… | Association of Colleges