Top 3 most popular articles in April 2022

At Edapt, we support thousands of school staff in England and Wales with employment-related queries. 

As a result, we have a unique window into the insights and concerns of school staff and how this changes at specific times throughout the academic year.

With over 250 accessible support articles on education and employment-related subjects, when school staff search for reliable information on employment issues in schools, they come to Edapt.

During April 2022, our 3 most popular support articles were:

1 Pay calculator for teachers

During April we saw lots of enquiries about pay and employment contracts. Many teachers were checking their pay using our pay calculator tool on our website.

With the cost of living crisis and the new financial year, school staff were double checking their take-home pay with the added health and social care levy.

Our pay calculator for teachers can be used to estimate pay as a full-time member of staff in England and Wales.

There are a number of caveats to consider:

1. If you teach in a maintained school, you will be paid according to a nationally agreed teacher pay scale. If you teach in an academy, free school or independent school, your pay will be set according to your school’s pay policy
2. Check your school’s pay policy and employment contract to understand the terms you are employed under
3. You will also need to consider any Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) or SEN allowances which might impact your salary

2 How can I  find my teacher reference number?

You might be searching for a new teaching job, applying for supply work or wanting to access your personal teaching record. Your teacher reference number is a unique identifier which you can use when evidencing your teaching qualifications and accessing your teaching certificates online.

If you don’t know what your teacher reference number (TRN) is, this can usually be found on your payslip or teachers’ pension documentation.

You can also contact the teacher qualifications help desk to request your number. You’ll need to provide your full name, date of birth and National Insurance number.

You’ll need to use your TRN to access your individual teacher record.

The TRN has previously been known as a QTS, GTC, DfE, DfES or DCSF number and therefore may include the letters RP and the forward slash symbol ‘/’. 

For example, if your number is ‘RP99/12345’, just enter ‘9912345’. If your number is ‘68/12345’ just enter ‘6812345’

3. INSET days: what are my requirements to attend? 

INSET (IN–SErvice Training days) were introduced in 1988 by the then education secretary Ken Baker so teachers could take part in professional development outside of their standardised 190 days.

Schools can decide how to spread out INSET days across the academic year, so you might attend two at the beginning of the school year, one before Easter and two at the end of the school year. Pupils do not attend school on these days.

If you are a teacher in a maintained school and your school follows the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) your school must designate five days per year for purposes other than teaching.

Each of the five days should be allocated six hours of directed time, even if teachers do not undertake activities for all of that time.

There are examples of schools which use all five days in one week or schools which try and coincide INSET days with elections to reduce school closures.