The 2023 pay award for support staff in schools finally agreed

3rd November, 2023

The 2023 pay award for support staff in schools has finally been agreed after months of protracted negotiations and industrial action. The pay increase applies to all school staff employed on 'Green Book' terms.

The pay increase applies to all school staff employed on ‘Green Book’ terms. This includes all non-teaching staff in maintained schools and the vast majority of academies in England and Wales.

The pay award means that staff outside of London earning less than £50,000 per year (i.e. up to SCP 43) will see an annual pay increase of £1,925 (full-time equivalent). Higher-paid employees will receive a 3.88% pay increase.

These pay increases will be backdated to April 2023 and schools will be frantically re-calculating school budgets for this academic year now that agreement has been reached, with the cost to schools estimated to be around £1billion. Schools are expected to implement the backdated pay increase as soon as possible.

Whilst schools will be hoping for less disruption and a swifter settlement next year, the Local Government Association has cautioned that delays in reaching this year’s pay award will very likely lead to a delay in the negotiations for next year’s Green Book pay increase (to take effect from 1 April 2024).

For more information about the pay award, or for any other education law matter, please get in touch with Tom Shears or another of our expert Education lawyers.