I am encouraged that the Department for Education has accepted the recommendations of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) to increase the minimum and maximum of the main pay range for teachers by 3.5 per cent. Many teachers are set to benefit from this. Teachers in the upper pay range are set to receive a 2 per cent increase. I appreciate you were hoping that all teachers would receive the 3.5 per cent increase but I do believe the Department for Education's offer represents a fair deal for all.
The STRB is an independent pay review body that considers evidence from the Department for Education and other stakeholders such as the teacher unions. The Government lifted the 1 per cent pay cap but still had to make sure we could pay for the final settlement. Following the STRB recommendation, I am pleased Ministers focussed the resources they have on teachers in classrooms. These changes will mean classroom teachers on the main pay range could receive a pay rise between £803 and £1,366. Teachers on the upper pay range could also receive a pay increase of two per cent and 1.5 per cent for those in leadership positions. I appreciate you would like to have seen higher pay increases at the upper pay range, but I agree that it is important to prioritise pay increases for those on lower salaries.
It is up to schools themselves to determine how much their staff are paid, but the increases in pay will be funded by a new teachers' pay grant worth £187 million in 2018 to 2019 and £321 million in 2019 and 2020. This will be paid to all schools on top of their core budgets from the National Funding Formula. While I am pleased that this pay rise will help us retain teachers, salaries for new teachers will also increase by between £803 and £1004, helping to recruit a new generation of brilliant teachers.