Pay progression in January

[SouthamptonTeacher]

Hi, I'm a Year 1 ECT and started my full time position in January of this year (2023).

Does anyone know if I will be allowed to go up to M2 on the pay progression scale in January 2024, or do I have to wait until next September like everyone else?

Everywhere I look, including my Trust's employee handbook, it says pay is reviewed in September.

I would appreciate if anyone had any insight into this because I don't like asking the school without previously having consulted someone - they have told me all kinds of nonsense in the past regarding things like this (they know I am new so they can tell me anything and I have to believe it).

You need to ask your union rep in school for advice.

Have you had an appraisal? Did you set targets in January and have you achieved those? I would think there’s no harm in asking to move up the scale now.

The OP isn't part of the appraisal cycle as an ECT.
Are you doing ECT over 6 terms or 5?
If it is 5, and you've completed y1, I'd expect you to go up now. If it's 6, you might be able to negotiate to go up in January.

It's 6 terms, I completed 2 already and this is my 3rd (will finish in December). So I just thought if a full academic year has passed, would I be moved on to M2? I expect to pass my ECT assessments to move on to ECT2 in January.

But a full academic year hasn't passed - you've only done two terms of it.
The best advice you'll get is to ask in your school - I can tell you what mine would do but that's not relevant.

Thank you - this is what I didn't know (regarding pay progression), whether I have to wait for a year to pass as in 3 terms (which would be in January), or an academic year as in September to September.

I will speak to the school; I only wanted to know if anyone could give me any information beforehand because as I said in my original post they haven't always been 100% reliable when I asked them things before.

Ask for the pay policy and then ask specifically about pay progression for ECTs who start after the normal start date.
And let your union rep know what you're asking.

This is why you ask your union rep- they will normally know what's happened in the past. If not, they will likely know which HR contact is most reliable to ask about things like this.

If you're a teacher of a shortage subject, it may also be worth raising with your line manage that you'd like to have some pay progression before next September. You could probably get M2 in January if you moved schools.