How much do teachers get paid?
You may be interested in embarking on a career in teaching but are unsure of how much teachers get paid? You might have even been made redundant from Coronavirus and thinking about switching careers into teaching.
The Department for Education (DfE) has said salaries for new teachers are set to rise to £30,000 by 2022-23, and the move would make starting salaries for teachers among the most competitive in the graduate labour market.
Like with any profession, how much you will be paid will be on a varied scale. Variabilities include:
- The type of school you teach in (state maintained to independent)
- Where the school is located (teachers that teach in state maintained schools in inner London receive a high salary than outside of London)
- Your roles and responsibilities
- Performance related-pay
In addition, The Teacher’s Pension Scheme is another benefit which can be more beneficial compared to working in the private sector. We have published another article which outlines how the Teacher’s Pension Scheme works.
Teaching can be seen as a stable career especially in turbulent economic times.
There is a strong and significant negative correlation between the number of applications to teacher training and GDP growth over the last fifteen years. When GDP falls, the number of applicants rises. Thus the number of people applying to enter PGCE courses rose by record numbers during the first quarter of 2009.
How much do teachers get paid: what is the current situation?
The School Teachers’ Pay and Condition Document (STPCD) sets out the pay scales for teachers in maintained and other schools that choose to adopt it.
The salaries of qualified classroom teachers working in maintained schools in England will fall within the Main Pay Range (MPR) or the Upper Pay Range (UPR). These reflect the variation in cost of living across the country, with a premium for those working in inner, outer or fringe areas of London. Annual salaries for the two pay ranges are as follows:
| Annual salary for teachers in maintained schools | England (excluding London areas) | London Fringe area | Outer London area | Inner London area | |
| Main Pay Range (MPR) | Min | £24,373 | £25,543 | £28,355 | £30,480 |
| Max | £35,971 | £37,152 | £40,035 | £41,483 | |
| Upper Pay Range (UPR) | Min | £37,654 | £38,797 | £41,419 | £45,731 |
| Max | £40,490 | £41,635 | £44,541 | £49,571 | |
How much do teachers get paid: working as an unqualified teacher
Teachers training in maintained schools following the Schools Direct salaried programme will be paid according to the Unqualified Teachers Pay Range.
As with the other pay ranges, there are no longer fixed salary points; it is the responsibility of a school to publish a pay policy detailing the structures in place.
| Unqualified Range (UQT) | England (excluding London areas) | London Fringe area | Outer London area | Inner London area |
| Min | £17,682 | £18,844 | £21,004 | £22,237 |
| Max | £27,965 | £29,123 | £31,290 | £32,515 |
How much do teachers get paid: lead practitioners
The Leading Practitioner Pay Range rewards consistently high-performing teachers who wish to focus on modelling excellent practice and raising the standard of teaching across the school. A school’s pay policy will outline the requirements and availability of these posts, as well as where in the range a teacher will be paid. The pay range is as follows:
| Annual salary for leading practitioners | England (excluding London areas) | London Fringe area | Outer London area | Inner London area |
| Min | £41,267 | £42,403 | £44,541 | £49,065 |
| Max | £62,735 | £63,874 | £66,012 | £70,540 |
Do teachers get paid more in Wales?
The STPCD which outlines teachers’ pay and conditions in maintained schools in England no longer applies in Wales.
Responsibility for teacher pay and conditions was transferred to the Welsh government on 30 September 2018.
We outline the pay scales for teachers in Wales in the following article.
Further advice on teacher pay
We provide a more detailed breakdown of teacher pay, including TLRs and SEN allowances in the following article.
If you are an Edapt subscriber you can contact us for further support and advice.
