Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

PART 2: UNITED KINGDOM
167
Teacher salaries
In both England and Scotland, teachers earn similar salaries regardless of the level they
teach. For example, a primary teacher in Scotland who has reached the top of the salary
scale in terms of experience but with minimum teacher education earned $48,205
($PPP) in 2005, identical to salaries earned by similar teachers in lower- and uppersecondary
schools. In England, the corresponding salary was $43,835 (OECD, 2007).
The difference between teachers at the top of the salary scale and those at the bottom
is lower than the average ratio in OECD countries. While top-salary lower-secondary
teachers in OECD countries earn on average 1.71 times the remuneration of the lowestearning
teachers, the ratio between top and bottom is 1.55 times in England and 1.46
times in Scotland (OECD, 2004).
In terms of annual salaries, secondary teachers in Scotland with 15 years of experience and
minimum teacher education ranked fifth among OECD countries in 2005. Their annual
salary at the time was $48,205, again calculated according to PPP. Teachers in England
earned $48,435, placing them eighth among OECD countries. In terms of the ratio of
salaries to GDP per capita, teachers in Scotland earn 1.47 times GDP per capita while
teachers in England earn 1.33 times GDP per capita, placing both countries above the
OECD mean of 1.30 times GDP per capita. In PPP terms, beginning teachers in Scotland
with minimum teacher education earned more ($30,213) than new teachers in England
($29,992) in 2005. Teachers in both countries earned slightly more than the mean of
beginning teachers in OECD countries, which was $29,772 in 2005 (OECD, 2007).
Between 1996 and 2002, the numerical value of salaries for beginning teachers increased
by more than the mid-career and the top-of-the-scale salaries in both England and
Scotland, indicating the desire of these countries to attract younger teachers to the
profession. For example, in Scotland, salaries for beginning teachers increased by 21%
during this period, while salaries for teachers at the top of the salary scale increased
by only 6% (OECD, 2004). England continued this policy direction between 2002 and
2005, increasing starting salaries by 18% and top-of-the-scale salaries by only 11%.
Scotland reversed its salary policy direction, raising high-end salaries by 19% and
starting salaries by only 11% (OECD, 2007).
Teachers’ comparative salaries
The starting salary for teachers in England and Wales in 2003 was £17,595, lower than
the average graduate’s starting salary of £19,714. In Scotland, the starting salary for a
teacher who had completed his or her probation year was £21,588. Teachers’ starting
salaries were higher than those of other public-sector workers, such as social workers,
but lower than those of police officers, who earned on average £19,842. There is also
evidence that teachers’ salaries have fallen behind the salaries of other college graduates
over time. Estimates based on data from the Labour Force Survey indicate that while
teachers under 25 years of age earn just below the average salary of all graduates, teachers
25 to 29 years of age earn 86% of the average graduate salary and teachers 30 to 39 years
of age earn 80% of the average salary of all graduates. However, a revision of teachers’
pay scales in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2002 has allowed teachers to reach
the top of the pay scale in five years, after which they can move on to a higher scale. This
ability to increase salary rapidly within the first five years compares favorably with the
situation for workers in other public-sector jobs, who generally cannot increase their
salaries as rapidly (Ross & Hutchings, 2003).