Independent school teacher forced to leave due to pay cut.

[Pensionworries]

I left the state sector to teach in an independent school a few years ago and I have loved how much more freedom I have had to be creative and really be the teacher I’ve always wanted to be. Having smaller class sizes has meant I get amazing job satisfaction from meeting the children’s individual needs. My colleagues are lovely and it’s a beautiful, friendly environment to work in.

But… recently us teachers were told by the governors that the school, like many independent schools, is not able to keep up with the Teacher Pension Scheme contributions so all teachers are now encouraged to either go to a different scheme (all are rubbish compared to the TPS) or take a 10% pay cut in order to pay in to it ourselves. There’s a hike in April and apparently another 5% hike due later in the year. Thanks government. 😔

I was happy-ish to take the hit now and maintain my TPS pension but, because my pension is based on my average earnings over the course of my career, I can’t really justify staying somewhere where I’m about to lose £5K a year plus take a hard hit on my pension just because I’m happy there.

I feel like it’s taken me years to find a school that I’m really happy working in and now it’s all been taken away in the blink of an eye. I’m gutted. 😞

It’s pretty galling that the school is also currently having a new swimming pool and equestrian facility built, ‘to attract new customers’, whilst I’m pulling 12 hour days and set to lose so much money. It feels like a real kick in the teeth.

Aside from asking for a pay-rise, I can’t think of any other way to go other than to leave.

I’m already worrying about awful academy chain schools run by toxic managers, under managers, executive managers and so on. I’m a good teacher and work extremely hard. Is it too much to ask to commit to a good school and be rewarded financially for my skills and hard work?

Yes it will for me. I am a governor at two local state schools and I know the Headteachers at those schools would welcome me with open arms. I have a post grad and at least twenty outstanding lesson obs under my belt and my references and results speak for themselves both at my indie and state schools. I have worked for the BBC on programmes in parallel and have huge links to exam boards as a top examiner. I have helped my pupils win top subjects competitions within my subject area in each of the indie and state schools I have worked in for the last ten years plus and I have won awards for my teaching and mentoring of other staff. I’m passionate about my teaching and I’ve worked in some very challenging schools. I took my current post as I relocated and it was the first job up. State schools normally do have money for staff- the squeeze is nothing new - schools have been saying they can’t afford stuff since I started teaching. I found a school I really loved and stayed but I’m not taking another hike down.

I started teaching on the old pay scale which went up to 9 I think and I started on point 7 (the Head was keen as shortage subject and I had a postgrad- you then went up every year) but I was HOD in 2 years - state school. And given then a D scale on top. With UPS you don’t need it to be HOD. I had UPS3 nearly twenty years ago - and I just applied and went straight through. I think once you have it - it’s rare for it to be removed. A school can’t discriminate on the grounds of age or experience they need a balance of new and old staff.

@Baircasolly I’ve always negotiated a minimum of a TLR and an R and R in a state school - you have to deliver, of course, but my last state school gave me a TLR of nearly £10 K and effectively made a job - and gave me a whole school responsibility for mentoring and Stem etc and then an R and R of £5 K. My current indie school has an enhanced pay scale - I’m on the top of it but it’s still lower than state - but I do get an extra 5 weeks holiday and we finish very early / late June which enables me to crack on with examiner work a bit more easily. So I might scale that back down if I go to state. I would get your evidence ready to apply as part of your accepted and assume they will take it but make it crystal clear without it you won’t go- get your results, obs, extra etc all nicely tied up.

There is a huge gender pay gap in most schools - I have sat as a governor where candidates have negotiated great salaries to start on (male candidates are much more likely to do this!) one NQT she negotiated an M6 to start and we wanted her and accepted it, she had been offered a job the day before at another school and they were waiting on her and she negotiated with us - well the Head - very politely. Some heads refuse - I worked in one school where the school was in special measures and the Head had a huge chip on his shoulder and literally cut anyone’s salary that he could and felt you should be grateful to work for him in an SM school. He didn’t last too long - no one wanted a job, everyone left and he could not recruit anyone decent and the new trust removed him quickly. I had gone by then but the new trust asked me back - I didn’t go!

As for the TPS I stand by it won’t exist in ten years but the government will not let it fold and will have to honour it. The next pay review is in 4 years - Teacher contribution can go down but highly unlikely so a potential freeze and then finish I wouldn’t be surprised. I am going to be out of it by then though. If I was a new teacher I’d Chuck as much in the TPS as I can for the next few years - not be leaving. Most of mine is ring fenced under the old final salary scheme though.

That's in the cities where there's an army of people that fly under the radar. We're in a semi rural affluent pocket in Wales where it's hard to fill jobs.

Please don't think state schools are financially more stable. The government have underfunded them for years and many are now in huge deficit budgets which LAs can no longer contain and academy chains can no longer continue with. There are redundancies in many schools coming up. The LA I work for (in School Improvement) will have more than half of its secondary schools with deficit budgets between 1 and 6 million each. Those are huge sums and schools can not hope to ever rebalance those deficits.

Two of the largest deficits are schools with historic deficits due to falling rolls- both have been up for academisation and no academy chain wants them because of their financial problems. They should both close but all of the other schools are full or over number so there is nowhere for the children to go. They both face another round of radical staff cuts- they will cut support staff because teaching staff are down to the bone in one in particular but they will need to lost two support staff rather than 1 teacher because there is a smaller saving with most support staff. The only safe job in either school is the HT. Nothing is off the table. In one school they have lost 4 of their SLT since September and none have been replaced. In the other the English dept had 5 staff- it now has 3 and much larger class sizes. The LA has withdrawn it's additional funding and that means the loss of the equivalent of 3 well-paid teachers salaries will disappear.

Private schools choose to spend their money on small class sizes and on maintaining extra 'gloss' to attract parents. No state school gets even a fifth of the funding per pupil of what an average private school charges per pupil.

I don't think Labour have any idea how big the financial mess is they are going to inherit. The LA next to the one I work for has huge loans with Japanese banks that it adds to every year and is on the point of complete collapse. It has had £70 million + removed from its budget by the Tories over the last 10 years. It is one of the most deprived areas in the country. It now no longer runs school meals, has barely any services for the homeless left, has stopped garden waste collections, reduced household waste collections by half, stopped planting of plants/bulbs, closed brand new council offices and sold them off pushing council services into an old school that leaks water, has no School Improvement Team, closed leisure centres and swimming pools, almost doubled council tax, provides no subsidy at all to adult learning - I could go on, the list is shocking.

Please also bear in mind teachers contribute a lot to their pensions- more than every other public service I think. All public services are having the age pensions can be accessed raised, and private pensions are also going to have the age raised of ability to access pension pots. Teacher pensions drop about £2500 per year for every year they are taken early and a full pension only comes (currently) after 40 years service and contribution. Police and some other pensions are fully-funded after 30 years.

I think we will see all pensions less accessible until an older age, even larger contributions expected from the employed and over a longer working period.

You obviously know nothing about independent schools if you think there is no ‘true diversity’ in them !!

Very similar position here OP. Worse salary, worse pension, no job security. I'm leaving very soon. Teachers aren't valued anymore.

My independent school has never been part of the TPS in my time being here. Our pension is shit but the salary is sufficiently inflated above state to make me better off regardless (I’m on over £60k as a classroom teacher with no responsibilities).

More and more independents are leaving the TPS as the contributions are unaffordable. You’re talking hundreds of thousands extra a year in some large well paying schools when it comes to the wages bill. That is the cost of a new building. It’s ridiculous. The government are asking too much of all schools and of teachers, too, when it comes to the level of contributions. Two friends of mine in other indies have both been told their schools are pulling out of the TPS this year and they are actually relieved as it means they can lower their contributions. They have been struggling to pay their mortgages with the contribution hikes taking so much out of their wages every month. I don’t think it’ll be long before all independents pull out and then there’ll be a crisis as that will leave a big whole in the TPS funds. At this rate I do wonder whether there’ll be a TPS left by the time I retire!

Before you make any decisions, please see a financial advisor. They will be able to walk you through the implications of any decisions you make. You may find that the salary drop you take to go back to state will outweigh the loss of the TPS depending on what stage of your career you are at.

@Onheretoomuch that massively depends on your definition of diversity 🙄

Op, I feel for you I have no words of advice but I feel this is a very poor show and I'm sad it's come to this. I'm aware at my daughter's school teachers went on strike before Xmas. She's in the middle of her A levels and is stressed that her teachers might leave. My son's school nearby has had 3 subject teachers leave mid GCSE too. It's a small independent school, so that's a huge loss and very unsettling.

I think schools with the deepest pockets will absorb the financial hit but there are many smaller independent schools struggling at present. One school closed in my local area due to financial reasons and both my daughter's and son's independent schools lost a lot of staff last term. It's a worrying time.

As a parent, I would rather they increased the fees slightly or think the school should have it because without great teachers there is no school and teachers are a valuable resource!!!

If any independent school mangers are on this site... please consider how bad it looks when disillusioned teachers are leaving in droves due to this- not good for business or the children or the exam grades!!

Sorry to ramble, tired but wanted to post!

Teachers are amazing 😻

The TPS is an absolute shambles, they were the worst company to deal with when MIL died. The time wasting bureaucracy that we had to go through to close the small pension (by then a widow's pension) was unreal.

Of course they aren't truly diverse.

There is plenty of ethnic diversity, yes. But very little socioeconomic diversity.

I'm sure you'll be back to tell us all about how most independent schools offer loads of scholarships/bursaries and so there is socioeconomic diversity after all. That simply isn't true. Firstly, there are actually very few schools that offer 100% scholarships for those on the very lowest incomes, and most parents end up contributing at least something. That immediately wipes out whole swathes of the population whose families simply don't have anything to give, because they're already struggling to choose between the basics such as food and heating. And even on those odd occasions when the schools do fully fund places for kids on the lowest incomes, these are typically aimed at the exceptionally bright children who would almost certainly do well anywhere, and more often than not, the places will be sought out by ambitious middle class parents who have somehow fallen on hard times. I am not aware of any independent schools that are falling over themselves to offer fully funded places to ordinary working class kids from low income backgrounds.

So no, I'm sorry, I don't buy it. There can never be true diversity in the independent sector because the whole point of it is that it's supposed to be exclusive.

I'm not anti private schools but I was tickled by the comment
"I fear that teaching in independent schools will become the preserve of those who can ‘afford’ it".

Considering private schools pupils are generally families that can afford it I doubt that there would be too much concern from the general public if the same applied to the staff.

The way I see it there are many jobs that are better for mental health and well-being, some that are better for that feeling of contributing and helping society and others that are better for pay/disposable income etc. Some teachers would never want to work in independent schools because they want to help more vulnerable children they choose schools in deprived areas. Some people work in the charity sector despite being able to earn double in the private sector, because that feeling of making a difference is really important.

I don't view it as right/wrong, more what aligns with people's values, choices, needs, wants and everything in between.

If that 5k is more important than all the other job satisfaction points you mentioned, then it's fine to jump ship. But you may find you would prefer to swallow that 5k. Do you also get more paid holidays? Sometimes teachers in the private sector get another 3 ish weeks paid leave + a year. That means something too.

I don't understand your viewpoint. You have choices. And your comment about the swimming pool is odd. Independents are under extreme pressure, they need to attract more parents, to pay your salary. And all this nonsense of the VAT, which probably won't come into effect imminently, but just adds to the cash flow and budgeting nightmare that the Finance Director of any Independent will face.

Well once Labour get into government and put 20 percent VAT on independent school fees, as they won't get charity status any more, lots of kids will be put back into the state sector so less need for as many teachers in independent schools.

We are all going to be working almost 50 years and retired for around just 25: I’d rather have my mental health and work in a pleasant environment than go back to working in the abominable state sector and putting my own children through that shitshow. I’ll be sorting my pension another way! The TPS is not a good enough draw to make me live in a daily soul crushing hell.

Thank you. That’s a good point.
mental health is very valuable.

Frankly I think it’s a fucking disgrace that any institution building an equestrian centre and swimming pool for paying customers is considered a charity and benefits from that status. I also think it’s a disgrace that the OP is looking to benefit from a Government-backed pension scheme when she has deliberately chosen to opt out of the state sector.

My children’s school can barely keep the lights on. The TPS is one of the few good things about state school teaching and it should be absolutely supported. But the private sector is just that and should not be supported at the expense of public sector when it offers no benefit whatsoever.

I agree aquarimum. I think it’s a disgrace that they’re given charitable status. I had to listen to a woe is me rant from a friend who is not going to vote Labour because of the whole VAT issue (her kids are in private). As a state teacher who has seen first hand what Tory policies have done to the poorest kids in our society, I really had to bite my tongue to avoid losing the friendship!!

The state sector is now predominantly made up of academies which are just glorified pyramid schemes, with all the money landing in the pockets of the business managers and CEOs, most of whom couldn’t handle half a day in the classroom.

At least the private sector wears its heart on its sleeve and doesn’t pretend it’s not a business. Academy schools are scandalous and believe me, the last thing on the minds of the leaders is good education for children and definitely not the wellbeing of teachers.

I have worked in several academies and the appalling resources and lack of funding for this country’s poorest children was beyond shocking. Poor teachers constantly scrutinised by expensive leaders who clip clop around the corridors in their Armani suits who have the audacity to park in the staff carpark in a Lamborghini next to the battered old bangers of the teachers.

Many MATS are going bankrupt. Good!

The TPS is a scheme for teachers. I won’t be made to feel immoral for paying into it.

Teachers are teachers whichever school they work in. We all went to the same polys!

Not all schools are in MATS. Not all academies are bad - especially not the many single academy trusts which still exist.

And yes, teachers are teachers regardless of which sector they choose to work in. The point is that there will be different pros and cons to each. There is nothing immoral about you wanting to pay into the TPS, but if your employer doesn't want to fund it, you can either choose to suck that up, negotiate with your employer or go elsewhere.

There is no inherent right to work in an independent school and take advantage of the TPS. Work is about compromises for most people in one way or another. You have to decide what matters to you most, just like most other people.

I'm sorry, what? Is she part time??

Will your school be using ‘fire / rehire’, @Pensionworries ?

@LuluBlakey1 actually I think they contribute less than other public services. Considerably less than the nhs pension

The benefits of privatised industry- cheap wages to maximise profits for owners.

Yes, but that is unusual. I know teachers in the private sector and they are on a lot of money. Something isn't adding up.