Support staff pay and conditions

Latest updates about support staff pay negotiations

June 2022

The recognised trade unions have submitted the pay claim for 2022/23 (operative from April 1st 2022):

A substantial increase with a minimum of £2,000 per annum or the current rate of RPI - whichever is greater - on all spinal column points
A COVID-19 recognition payment
A national minimum agreement on homeworking policies and the introduction of a home working allowance
An urgent review of all mileage rates currently applying
A review and update of Green Book terms for family leave and pay
A review of term time only contracts and consideration of retainers
A reduction in the working week (without loss of pay) to 35 hours (34 in London)
One additional day of annual leave

The Employers Side of the National Joint Council (NJC) are in the process of conducting pay consultations with employers throughout the country to get their views on affordability and aim to respond to the NJC union side by mid-July with their response.

March 2022

Agreement has been reached on pay for 2021/22.

The settlement means that eligible support staff on pay spine points 2 and above will receive a 1.75% per annum rise, payable from April 2021, with staff on point 1 receiving a 2.75% rise.

This is the offer first made by the employers on July 27 2021.

Employers have been encouraged to implement the award, including backdated monies, as swiftly as possible.

The employers have also agreed to recommence the review of Term-Time Only working arrangements, which was paused at the outbreak of the pandemic.

Finally, if requested by an ex-employee to do so, employers have been asked to pay any monies due to that employee from 1 April 2021 to the employee’s last day of employment.

Previous updates

In November, NEU support staff members in the state sector are currently being consulted on this years pay offer.

The recognised trade unions - Unison, GMB and Unite - have already rejected the employers' final offer of 1.75%, payable from April 1st 2021, and are moving towards conducting strike ballots to continue the fight against the below-inflation offer. Now NEU is asking support staff members their view and whether they would be willing to lend support including potentially by taking part in strike action if any other unions which do so.

State Sector support staff members are asked to complete the short survey circulated by email by no later than Monday November 22nd.

In August, Unions rejected the latest pay offer for state sector education support staff and are considering balloting for industrial action.

The National Employers side of the National Joint Council (NJC) has made what it described as its “final” offer on July 27.

It included a 1.75 per cent rise for the vast majority of staff, but with a 2.75 per cent increase in pay for anyone earning less than £18,198 (Full Time Equivalent – FTE) a year.

An earlier offer of 1.5 per cent across the board was rejected by the trade unions represented on the NJC. The unions’ original pay claim in February was for a minimum of ten per cent and a 35-hour working week.

Any final agreement on pay will be backdated to April 1st.

The employers have made the following one-year offer to the unions representing the main local government NJC workforce:

With effect from 1 April 2021, an increase of 1.50 per cent on all NJC pay points 1 and above
Completion of the outstanding work of the joint Term-Time Only review group.

The employers have also proposed that the NJC begins immediate exploratory discussions on three other elements of the claim, as follows:

A national minimum agreement on homeworking policies for all councils
An agreement on a best practice national programme of mental health support for all local authorities and school staff
A joint review of the provisions in the Green Book for maternity/paternity/shared parental/adoption leave

The trade unions have written to the National Employers to reject the 1.50% pay offer and have asked for urgent talks.

The employers will consider the unions’ letter and respond in due course.

The trade unions lodged the following pay claim for ‘Green Book’ staff, to be payable from April 1 2021:

A substantial increase with a minimum of 10% on all spinal column points
Introduction of a homeworking allowance for all staff who are working from home
A national minimum agreement on homeworking policies for all councils
A reduction of the working week to 35 hours with no loss of pay, and a reduction to 34 hours a week in London. Part-time staff to be given a choice of a pro rata reduction, or retaining the same hours and being paid a higher percentage of FTE
A minimum of 25 days annual leave, plus public holidays and statutory days, for all starting employees, plus an extra day holiday on all other holiday rates that depend on service
An agreement on a best practice national programme of mental health support for all local authorities and school staff
A joint review of job descriptions, routes for career developments and pay banding for school support staff, and completion of the outstanding work of the joint term-time only review group
A joint review of the provisions in the Green Book for maternity/paternity/shared parental/adoption leave

Maintained sector

Most LA schools use the local government pay rates to pay their support staff in conjunction with National Joint Council (NJC) terms and conditions.

However, this can vary between local authorities, which means it is not possible to be prescriptive about the rate of pay support staff will receive. An employee's contract should state their rate of pay, the point on the local government pay scale that refers to, and how the rate will increase on an incremental basis to a certain point.

Academies and Free Schools

Whilst academies have the freedom to establish their own policies for pay and conditions, nearly all stand-alone academies and all Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) have maintained the link to the Local Government pay arrangements, which means that they adhere to the pay agreements reached periodically, and also use the Local Government pay spine and the National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service – otherwise known as the Green Book.

Free schools have the ability to set their own pay, terms and conditions, without reference to the maintained sector.

Independent schools

Support staff in most independent schools are employed on a range of terms and conditions that are determined by their individual contracts Details of support staff pay should be included in a written school pay policy, and school policies on employment-related matters should be published in a staff handbook or on the school’s intranet.

In more than 100 independent schools, the NEU is recognised by the employer for collective bargaining purposes, and in most instances, the Recognition Agreement covers teachers and support staff. This means that NEU members at the school negotiate with management on their pay, hours, holidays and other matters.

Local government pay scale for support staff

SCP	01-Apr-21		01-Apr-20
SCP	per annum	per hour	per annum	per hour
1	£18.333	£9.50	£17,842	£9.25
2	£18516	£9.60	£18.198	£9.43
3	£18,887	£9.79	£18,198	£9.43
4	£19,264	£9.99	£18,562	£9.62
5	£19,650	£10.19	£18,933	£9.81
6	£20,043	£10.39	£19,312	£10.01
7	£20,043	£10.39	£19,698	£10.21
8	£20,444	£10.60	£20,092	£10.41
9	£20,852	£10.81	£20,493	£10.62
10	£21,269	£11.02	£20,903	£10.83
11	£21,695	£11.25	£21,322	£11.05
12	£22,129	£11.47	£21,748	£11.27
13	£22,571	£11.70	£22,183	£11.50
14	£23,023	£11.93	£22,627	£11.73
15	£23,484	£12.17	£23,080	£11.96
16	£23,953	£12.42	£23,541	£12.20
17	£24,432	£12.66	£24,012	£12.45
18	£24,920	£12.92	£24,491	£12.69
19	£25,419	£13.18	£24,982	£12.95
20	£25,927	£13.44	£25,481	£13.21
21	£26,446	£13.71	£25,991	£13.47
22	£26,975	£13.98	£26,511	£13.74
23	£27,514	£14.26	£27,041	£14.02
24	£28,226	£14.63	£27,741	£14.38
25	£29,174	£15.12	£28,672	£14.86
26	£30,095	£15.60	£29,577	£15.33
27	£30,984	£16.06	£30,451	£15.78
28	£31,895	£16.53	£31,346	£16.25
28	£32,798	£17.00	£32,234	£16.71
30	£33,486	£17.36	£32,910	£17.06
31	£34,373	£17.82	£33,782	£17.51
32	£35,336	£18.32	£34,728	£18.00
33	£36,371	£18.85	£35,745	£18.53
34	£37,568	£19.47	£36,922	£19.14
35	£38,553	£19.98	£37,890	£19.64
36	£39,571	£20.51	£38,890	£20.16
37	£40,578	£21.03	£39,880	£20.67
38	£41,591	£21.56	£40,876	£21.19
39	£42,614	£21.56	£41,881	£21.71
40	£43,570	£21.60	£42,821	£22.20
41	£44,624	£22.58	£43,857	£22.73
42	£45,648	£23.66	£44,863	£23.25
43	£46,662	£24.19	£45,859	£23.77
44	£47,665	£24.71	£46,845	£24.28

Special educational needs

April 2021	April 2020
£1,347	£1,324

Outer London Pay Spines

From 1 April 2021 an increase of 2.75% on point 1 and 1.75% on all other points rounded up to the multiple of £3.

Outer London 2019 Spine	Outer London 2019 Rate	Outer London Apr 2020 Rate	Outer London Apr 2021 New Rate
1	£20,103	£20,658	£21,228
2	£20,466	£21,030	£21,399
3	£20,835	£21,408	£21,783
4	£21,210	£21,795	£22,179
5	£21,591	£22,185	£22,575
6	£21,981	£22,587	£22,983
7	£22,377	£22,995	£23,400
8	£22,779	£23,406	£23,817
9	£23,187	£23,826	£24,243
10	£23,607	£24,258	£24,684
11	£24,030	£24,693	£25,128
12	£24,462	£25,137	£25,578
13	£24,903	£25,590	£26,040
14	£25,353	£26,052	£26,508
15	£25,809	£26,520	£26,985
16	£26,274	£26,997	£27,471
17	£26,745	£27,483	£27,966
18	£27,228	£27,978	£28,470
19	£27,717	£28,482	£28,983
20	£28,215	£28,992	£29,502
21	£28,725	£29,517	£30,036
22	£29,241	£30,048	£30,576
23	£29,766	£30,585	£31,122
24	£30,213	£31,044	£31,590
25	£30,711	£31,557	£32,112
26	£31,548	£32,418	£32,988
27	£32,430	£33,324	£33,909
28	£33,291	£34,209	£34,809
29	£33,948	£34,884	£35,496
30	£34,794	£35,751	£36,378
31	£35,724	£36,708	£37,353
32	£36,711	£37,722	£38,385
33	£37,842	£38,883	£39,564
34	£38,799	£39,867	£40,566
35	£39,774	£40,869	£41,586
36	£40,728	£41,850	£42,585
37	£41,706	£42,855	£43,605
38	£42,684	£43,860	£44,628
39	£43,590	£44,790	£45,576
40	£44,607	£45,834	£46,638
41	£45,585	£46,839	£47,661
42	£46,560	£47,841	£48,681
43	£47,511	£48,819	£49,674
44	£48,492	£49,827	£50,700
45	£49,464	£50,826	£51,717
46	£50,448	£51,837	£52,746
47	£51,450	£52,866	£53,793
48	£52,482	£53,928	£54,873
49	£53,544	£55,017	£55,980
50	£54,597	£56,100	£57,084
51	£55,638	£57,171	£58,173
52	£56,682	£58,242	£59,262
53	£57,735	£59,325	£60,366
54	£58,779	£60,396	£61,455
55	£59,823	£61,470	£62,547
56	£60,879	£62,556	£63,651
57	£61,929	£63,633	£64,749
58	£62,970	£64,704	£65,838
59	£64,023	£65,784	£66,936
60	£65,367	£67,167	£68,343
61	£66,732	£68,568	£69,768
62	£68,127	£70,002	£71,229
63	£69,561	£71,475	£72,726
64	£71,016	£72,969	£74,247
65	£72,438	£74,433	£75,738

Inner London Pay Spine

From 1 April 2021 an increase of 2.75% on point 1 and 1.75% on all other points rounded up to the multiple of £3.

Inner London 2019 Spine	Inner London 2019 Rate	Inner London Apr New Rate	Inner London Apr 2021 New Rate
1	£21,231	£21,816	£22,416
2	£21,612	£22,209	£22,599
3	£22,002	£22,608	£23,004
4	£22,398	£23,016	£23,421
5	£22,800	£23,427	£23,838
6	£23,211	£23,850	£24,270
7	£23,628	£24,279	£24,705
8	£24,054	£24,717	£25,152
9	£24,486	£25,161	£25,602
10	£24,927	£25,614	£26,064
11	£25,377	£26,076	£26,535
12	£25,833	£26,544	£27,009
13	£26,298	£27,024	£27,498
14	£26,772	£27,510	£27,993
15	£27,255	£28,005	£28,497
16	£27,744	£28,509	£29,010
17	£28,245	£29,022	£29,532
18	£28,752	£29,544	£30,063
19	£29,271	£30,078	£30,606
20	£29,796	£30,618	£31,155
21	£30,333	£31,170	£31,716
22	£30,879	£31,731	£32,289
23	£31,434	£32,301	£32,868
24	£32,001	£32,883	£33,459
25	£32,577	£33,474	£34,062
26	£33,162	£34,074	£34,671
27	£33,759	£34,689	£35,298
28	£34,128	£35,067	£35,682
29	£34,986	£35,949	£36,579
30	£35,637	£36,618	£37,260
31	£36,486	£37,491	£38,148
32	£37,413	£38,442	£39,117
33	£38,403	£39,462	£40,155
34	£39,543	£40,632	£41,346
35	£40,491	£41,607	£42,336
36	£41,466	£42,609	£43,356
37	£42,432	£43,599	£44,364
38	£43,404	£44,598	£45,381
39	£44,373	£45,594	£46,392
40	£45,288	£46,536	£47,352
41	£46,293	£47,568	£48,402
42	£47,274	£48,576	£49,428
43	£48,252	£49,581	£50,451
44	£49,203	£50,559	£51,444
45	£50,184	£51,567	£52,470
46	£51,162	£52,569	£53,490
47	£52,140	£53,574	£54,513
48	£53,133	£54,597	£55,554
49	£54,174	£55,665	£56,640
50	£55,233	£56,754	£57,750
51	£56,289	£57,837	£58,851
52	£57,333	£58,911	£59,943
53	£58,380	£59,988	£61,038
54	£59,421	£61,056	£62,127
55	£60,480	£62,145	£63,234
56	£61,515	£63,207	£64,314
57	£62,565	£64,287	£65,415
58	£63,630	£65,382	£66,528
59	£64,656	£66,435	£67,599
60	£65,712	£67,521	£68,703
61	£67,053	£68,898	£70,104
62	£68,427	£70,311	£71,544
63	£69,813	£71,733	£72,990
64	£71,256	£73,218	£74,502
65	£72,705	£74,706	£76,014

Sixth Form Colleges NJC support staff salary spine

Current Pay Points	2018/19	New NJC Support Staff Pay Spine 1st September 2019		NJC Pay Point	1st April 2020	NJC Pay Point	1st January 2021
13	Deleted
14	£16,000	1	£16,240	1	£16,825	1	£17,246
15	£16,500	1+	£16,748		£17,471		£17,907
16	Deleted
17	£17,000	2	£17,255	2	£17,471	2	£17,907
18	£17,350	3	£17,610	3	£17,830	3	£18,276
19	£17,700	4	£17,966	4	£18,190	4	£18,645
20	£18,000	5	£18,270	5	£18,535	5	£18,998
21	£18,400	6	£18,676	6	£18,909	6	£19,382
22	£18,780	7	£19,062	7	£19,300	7	£19,782
23	£19,381	8	£19,672	8	£19,918	8	£20,416
24	£20,070	9	£20,371	9	£20,626	9	£21,141
25	£20,765	10	£21,076	10	£21,340	10	£21,873
26	£21,451	11	£21,773	11	£22,045	11	£22,596
27	£22,142	12	£22,474	12	£22,755	12	£23,324
28	£22,828	13	£23,170	13	£23,460	13	£24,047
29	£23,496	14	£23,848	14	£24,147	14	£24,750
30	£24,162	15	£24,524	15	£24,831	15	£25,452
31	£24,947	16	£25,321	16	£25,638	16	£26,279
32	£25,725	17	£26,111	17	£26,437	17	£27,098
33	£26,593	18	£26,992	18	£27,329	18	£28,013
34	£27,481	19	£27,893	19	£28,242	19	£28,948
35	£28,371	20	£28,797	20	£29,157	20	£29,885
36	£29,256	21	£29,695	21	£30,066	21	£30,818
37	£30,062	22	£30,513	22	£30,894	22	£31,667
38	£30,869	23	£31,332	23	£31,724	23	£32,517
39	£31,678	24	£32,153	24	£32,555	24	£33,369
40	£32,485	25	£32,972	25	£33,384	25	£34,219
41	£33,291	26	£33,790	26	£34,213	26	£35,068
42	£34,101	27	£34,613	27	£35,045	27	£35,921
43	£34,907	28	£35,431	28	£35,873	28	£36,770
44	£35,796	29	£36,333	29	£36,787	29	£37,707
45	£36,685	30	£37,235	30	£37,701	30	£38,643
46	£37,571	31	£38,135	31	£38,611	31	£39,577
47	£38,459	32	£39,036	32	£39,524	32	£40,512
48	£39,430	33	£40,021	33	£40,522	33	£41,535
49	£40,316	34	£40,921	34	£41,432	34	£42,468
50	£41,283	35	£41,902	35	£42,426	35	£43,487
51	£42,252	36	£42,886	36	£43,422	36	£44,507
52	£43,223	37	£43,871	37	£44,420	37	£45,530
53	£44,192	38	£44,855	38	£45,416	38	£46,551
54	£45,161	39	£45,838	39	£46,411	39	£47,572
40	£46,847	40	£47,432	40	£48,618
		41	£47,877	41	£48,476	41	£49,688
		42	£48,931	42	£49,542	42	£50,781
		43	£50,007	43	£50,632	43	£51,898
		44	£51,107	44	£51,746	44	£53,040
		45	£52,232	45	£52,885	45	£54,207
		46	£53,381	46	£54,048	46	£55,399
		47	£54,555	47	£55,237	47	£56,618
		48	£55,755	48	£56,452	48	£57,864
		49	£56,982	49	£57,694	49	£59,137
		50	£58,236	50	£58,964	50	£60,438
		51	£59,517	51	£60,261	51	£61,767
		52	£60,826	52	£61,587	52	£63,126
		53	£62,164	53	£62,942	53	£64,515
		54	£63,532	54	£64,326	54	£65,934
		55	£64,930	55	£65,741	55	£67,385

NJC Support Staff London and Fringe Area Allowances at 1st September 2019

Inner London	£3,917
Outer London	£2,610
Fringe	£1,034
At 1st April 2020
Inner London	£3,966
Outer London	£2,643
Fringe	£1,047

At 1st January 2021

Inner London	£4,065
Outer London	£2,709
Fringe	£1,073

Popular Pages

Support staff pay and conditions

Latest updates about support staff pay negotiations

June 2022

March 2022

Previous updates

Maintained sector

Academies and Free Schools

Independent schools

Local government pay scale for support staff

Special educational needs

Outer London Pay Spines

Inner London Pay Spine

Sixth Form Colleges NJC support staff salary spine

NJC Support Staff London and Fringe Area Allowances at 1st September 2019

At 1st April 2020

At 1st January 2021

Related content

Pay campaign

Pay scales