Education Committee call on DfE to fully fund teaching assistant pay rises

Headteachers being forced to reduce TAs to balance school budgets is ‘concerning’, according to the Education Committee’s latest report on teacher shortages.

‘Given the important work support staff do’, the Committee have informed the DfE that this is a ‘significant challenge’. 

‘We welcome the most recent pay agreement for support staff’

Yesterday, the 2024 pay claim for a pay rise of £3000 or 10% (whichever is higher) was rejected. Local government workers were instead offered a ‘full and final pay offer’ of £1290.

Read: 2024 teaching assistant pay claim REJECTED by local government

Concerns are raised by the Committee about the funding of support staff pay increases. They are calling on the DfE to fund the increases to relieve the pressure this puts on school budgets.

They highlight: ‘Without additional funding from the Department, schools are unable to employ the support staff they need.’

‘The wage growth of support staff must be factored into school budgets and the Department must allocate sufficient funding to schools to cover the growth of support staff salaries.’

The Committee highlighted that last year, teaching assistants and support staff received a higher pay award than the equivalent award for teachers, but are paid at a significantly lower level.

Read: FAQs: What is the latest on teaching assistant pay? (2023)

‘Significant challenge’ with TA recruitment and retention

Headteachers told the Education Committee how they were struggling to recruit and retain teaching assistants due to ‘low pay’ and ‘high levels of responsibility’.

Read: Teaching assistant recruitment and retention: One in five roles unfilled

The Committee shares: ‘We have heard persistent concerns that low pay is resulting in difficulty recruiting and retaining staff in these vital roles which help both teachers and pupils and provide essential support to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).’

The DfE has been informed that the growing need for teaching assistants, who ‘have an increasing requirement’ to meet the rising SEND demands in mainstream schools, is a ‘significant challenge’ for schools.

The teacher degree apprenticeship

The report focuses on teacher shortages and the ongoing teacher recruitment and retention crisis the DfE are facing.

Read: ‘Long-term strategy needed to tackle teacher supply crisis’: Are teaching assistants the answer?

As such, the Committee discusses the government’s plan to introduce the non-graduate apprenticeship particularly aimed at teaching assistants.

Read: Teacher degree apprenticeship aimed at teaching assistants announced by DfE

They highlight that ‘fewer than 1000 people have taken an apprenticeship route into teaching since 2019’, which they say is concerning and suggests it remains a ‘minor and specialist route into teaching’.

The Committee believes the teacher degree apprenticeship could be an ‘important contribution in recruitment’ as teaching assistants who already have experience are able to ‘earn and learn simultaneously to become teachers’.

Read: 22 questions with the DfE: Teacher degree apprenticeship

The Education Committee encourages the DfE to ‘move forward’ with the rollout of the teacher degree apprenticeship, specifically for experienced non-graduate staff.

The Education Committee is a cross-party group of backbench MPs appointed by the House of Commons to scrutinise the spending, policies and administration of the DfE, Ofsted, Ofqual and the Office for Students.

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