Guidance

National pay scales for eligible teaching and education leadership occupation codes

Updated 4 April 2024

Minimum annual salary (‘going rate’) for education jobs on the list of eligible health and education public sector jobs.

School teachers

Source: Teachers’ national pay scales:

• England
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales

Based on a full-time working week - they must be pro-rated for other working patterns, based on the weekly working hours stated by your employer.

These scales apply to the following occupation codes:

• 2313: secondary education teaching professionals
• 2314: primary education teaching professionals
• 2315: nursery education teaching professionals
• 2316: special and additional needs education teaching professionals
• 2321: head teachers and principals

Role	England (excluding London / Fringe)	London Fringe	Outer London	Inner London	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland
Unqualified teachers / Probationers	£20,598	£21,933	£24,415	£25,831	£32,217	£20,674	n/a
Qualified teachers	£30,000	£31,350	£34,514	£36,745	£38,655	£30,742	£24,137
Chartered teachers	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£50,022	n/a	n/a
Principal teachers	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	£52,896	n/a	n/a
Leadership group	£47,185	£48,484	£50,929	£56,100	n/a	£48,012	£41,884
Leading practitioner	£47,417	£48,723	£51,179	£56,377	n/a	£48,248	n/a
Head teacher	£53,380	£54,685	£57,124	£62,304	£59,994	£54,316	£47,381

Further education teaching professionals

This applies to occupation code 2312.

These going rates are per year and based on the definition of a full-time teaching professional used when determining these pay scales. They must be pro-rated for other working patterns, based on the weekly working hours stated by the applicant’s sponsor.

England

Source:

• General Further Education Colleges 2023 national pay scales
• Sixth Form Colleges 2023 national pay scales

Job	Going rate
Unqualified lecturer	£22,387
Qualified lecturer	£27,786
Advanced teaching and training	£41,905
Leadership and management	£41,905

Scotland

Source: No national pay scales published – minimum rates taken as the lowest of the other 3 nations.

Job	Going rate
Lecturer and equivalent	£24,496
Senior lecturer and equivalent	£41,905

Wales

Source: Wales FE pay scales.

Job	Going rate
Instructor/demonstrator and associate lecturer	£24,048.75
Main grade lecturer	£30,619.64
Upper pay spine	£44,010.49
Management	£47,696.57

Northern Ireland

Source: Northern Ireland FE pay scales – pay offer from College Employers’ Forum.

Job	Going rate
Lecturer	£24,496
Principal lecturer	£47,381

Teaching assistants

This applies to occupation codes 3231, 6112 and 6113.

These occupations are not eligible for the Global Business Mobility or Scale-up routes.

Source:

• England and Wales
• Northern Ireland

No available data for Scotland so matching the lower value of all nations.

SOC 2020 occupation code	Examples of related job titles (non-exhaustive)	Going rate
3231 Higher level teaching assistants	Advanced teaching assistant HLTA Learning support practitioner Teaching assistant (qualified)	General Assistants / Classroom Assistants: England and Wales: £23,500 Northern Ireland and Scotland: £22,366 p.a. (FTE £11.91 per hour) Classroom Assistant SEN: All nations: £23,500 p.a. (FTE £12.52 per hour) Classroom Assistant ASEN: England, Wales and Scotland: £23,500 Northern Ireland: £24,294 p.a. (FTE £12.94 per hour)
6112 Teaching assistants	Classroom assistant School assistant Teaching assistant	England and Wales: £23,500 Northern Ireland and Scotland: General Assistants / Classroom Assistants £22,366 p.a. (FTE £11.91 per hour)
6113 Educational support assistants	Education support assistant Learning support assistant Non-teaching assistant (schools) Special needs assistant Support assistant (educational establishments)	England, Wales and Scotland: £23,500 Northern Ireland: Classroom Assistant SEN £23,500 p.a. (FTE £12.52 per hour) Classroom Assistant ASEN £24,294 p.a. (FTE £12.94 per hour)