VerbatimParliament, as it happens

Teachers: Conditions of Employment

Asked by Neil Duncan-JordanLabourDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 28 March 2025UIN 39703

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve the terms and conditions of teachers in the public sector.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell

There is a statutory process for making revisions to the pay and conditions of teachers, and any change must first be referred by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

The department’s written evidence for the 2025/2026 pay round asks the STRB to consider how schools can support teachers from all backgrounds and promote flexible working, which will improve the experience of teaching and help deliver the best possible education for students.

The department is also asking the STRB to consider how additional responsibility payments can be more fairly managed for part-time teachers.

The department will also use the new powers in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to make changes to the teacher pay and conditions framework to create a pay floor with no ceiling, to enable healthy competition and innovation beyond a core framework, which will help to improve all state schools.

Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →

Open this question in Verbatim →

Every written question, searchable

155,000 questions tabled since the election, with the answer each department gave — and the ones still unanswered, with the clock running. Free to search.

Search written questions →Read on Verbatim