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?

If you have children it's a no brainer with 80% discount.

Get yourself a private pension with a financial advisor which is what the self employed do. Ours is around 8% PA and can't go down.

So you've whatever the school provides plus a private one.

Or go mad and buy property, become a landlord as your second pension.

Just don't put all your eggs in one basket

The private school haters are drawn like moths to an ‘elitist and outdated’ flame…

That's a very odd situation. The whole point of teaching at an independent is to get staff discount for your kids. Also an unusually low salary. It can't be the whole story.

@LovelyTheresa Absolutely!

80% discount on fees! Stop moaning, then!

But your 80% discount has a material value, so that should be added in to your overall package when making a comparison.

But if you don't have school age children or they leave?

It's dead mens shoes re promotion. I do know teachers who've been house masters that buy and rent out their properties, that does save money

@Baircasolly

I don't think a maintained school could put you on the UPS. See para 14 of the STPCD, in particular 14.3

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/652950f96b6fbf0014b7564d/2023_STPCD.pdf

An Academy might be able to, but it would depend on its pay policy. Many follow the STPCD, so couldn't.

As others have said, you don't have to be on the UPS to get a HoD role. As a HoD you'd expect to get a TLR though. The size would depend on the school's pay policy but the maximum available in a maintained school is £15,690).

What the difference between this and a GP being able to access the nhs pension. They are private businesses too. I also agree that academies are
essentially private. The ‘executive principal’ of ours is creaming off a tidy salary to the detriment of the kids

I started out in state (up to M5) then went to HoD at an independent school. Big career gap, then into another independent sch on salary roughly equivalent to UPS3. Like you, I never had to go through the threshold process. When I moved back to a state school, they put me onto UPS3 without negotiation. I was probably quite lucky given that lots of schools can’t or won’t pay UPS at all, but I certainly didn’t have to jump through any hoops. I think that I demonstrably had the skills and experience to warrant the UPS plus they were matching what I was already earning.

I wonder if @Pensionworries has gone, but wanted to say that plenty of independent school teachers do negotiate pay - it is becoming more common to do so.

There is no need to passively accept a pay cut. Some teachers, I understand, have taken industrial action.

Are you in a union?

I’ve spoken to my union but there’s only a couple of weeks left before the end of the “consultation” and they advised me to find out who of my colleagues is in a union and tell the school I don’t agree.

I don’t have time for any of the above.

I spoke to an advisor from the TPS who told me that they’d initially been told it would be raised by 10% originally and they said that it’s 5% in April and likely another 5% later in the year.

I’m set to lose thousands of pounds now and in the future due to the career average salary.

I have written to my Head and asked for 10% pay rise to ensure my finances don’t advance but do remain stable.

They can always say no and I can spend the year looking elsewhere.

I did go and meet a Head from a local state school that is advertising a post in September. She was so inspiring and what she’d done with the school was incredible - really innovative. It made me think about how much I’ve missed working somewhere where teachers actually have ambition and a real interest in education. Not such an emphasis on that where I am. Lots of emphasis on how things appear though.

I’m realising that I am a teacher through and through. Winging it doesn’t give me job satisfaction, I like a job done properly. If only the state sector wasn’t such a pit of boiling frogs. It’s a worrying leap when your mental health is at stake.

You absolutely must engage with colleagues and the union immediately. Are you in formal or informal consultation? Has the school consulted with parents? What is their rationale for the change? Is it a fire and rehire situation? Do you have a staff consultation committee? A barrage of questions, sorry, but every school that accepts without a fight weakens the position for others.

How is it going @Pensionworries?