Salaries

A newly-qualified teacher taking up his or her first teaching appointment in a maintained school can expect to start on Main Pay Scale point 1 (M1), at the following amounts (plus £33 to cover the cost of GTC registration).

As a newly-qualified teacher, you will be paid on point 1 (M1) on the Main Pay Scale.

  • Teachers in England and Wales (excl. those working in inner, outer and fringe areas of London) will be paid £19,641 from September 2006. From Sept 2007 their salary will be  £20,133.
  • Teachers in inner London will be paid £23,577 from September 2006 and £24,168 from September 2007. Inner London LAs are: Barking and Dagenham; Brent; Camden; City of London; Ealing; Greenwich; Hackney; Hammersmith and Fulham; Haringey; Islington; Kensington and Chelsea; Lewisham; Merton; Newham; Southwark; Tower Hamlets; Wandsworth and Westminster. 
  • Teachers in outer London will be paid £22,554 from September 2006 and £23,118 from September 2007. Outer London LAs are: Barnet; Bexley; Bromley; Croydon; Enfield; Harrow; Havering; Hillingdon; Hounslow; Kingston upon Thames; Redbridge; Richmond; Sutton; and Waltham Forest. 
  • Teachers in the fringe areas will be paid £20,586 from September 2006 and £21,102 from September 2007. Fringe areas are: District Council Areas of Bracknell Forest, Slough, and Windsor and Maidenhead; South Buckinghamshire and Chiltern; Basildon, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow and Thurrock; Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield; Dartford and Sevenoaks; Crawley; Surrey.        

Further details of pay scales, along with a pay calculator, can be found on the ATL website.

Negotiating a higher starting salary

Start quote
It may be possible to negotiate a higher starting salary.
End quote
It may be possible to negotiate a higher starting salary. Schools have the discretion to recognise other relevant experience when setting an appropriate starting salary. 

If you feel that you have relevant experience (for example, experience of teaching in the independent sector or previous employment experience relevant to your subject area) then you can ask for this to be taken into consideration when setting your starting salary. Schools should have a pay policy which sets out the extent to which they will exercise their discretion to award additional points in recognition of other relevant experience. Schools have the discretion to award up to one further incremental point per year for years of relevant experience. 

However, in practice many set a ceiling on the number of points that will be awarded in this way and some will award discretionary points at the rate of one point for so many years of relevant experience (eg one point for every three complete years of relevant experience). The best time to discuss starting salary and discretionary points is when you receive a firm offer of employment from the school. If you are awarded a discretionary point or points, this entitlement will be permanent and will be carried forward to any subsequent teaching appointment in the maintained sector.

Independent schools are free to determine their own arrangements so pay systems vary widely in this sector. However, as the dominant employer of teachers, the maintained sector sets a benchmark which most independent schools and academies seek to match or better.

Academies are free to vary the national teachers’ pay scales but, as yet, none have done so (although they have varied conditions such as working hours).

Help and support

For further advice on this issue, ATL members can speak to their school rep, their branch secretary or their regional official. They can also call the London (020 7930 6441), Cardiff (029 2046 5000), Belfast (028 9078 2020) or Edinburgh (0131 272 2748) offices or email info@atl.org.uk

For out of hours enquiries, call the out of office hours helpline on 020 7782 1612 (Monday-Friday, 5-8pm during term time).

If you are not a member, join now.

Further information

Useful websites