Reviewing the pay of Heads and the Leadership Team  

In December we saw the DfE update their Guidance on Implementing your school's approach to pay. The only significant change is that there is now further guidance on what might constitute a “significant change of responsibilities” when it comes to changing the pay of existing school leaders. The previous guidance left schools to construct their own interpretation whereas the phrase has now been defined as:

“The pay of those in post will only need to be reviewed when there have been significant changes to responsibilities. The definition of a ‘significant change’ will vary according to the circumstances and context of an individual school. For instance, what may be a relatively small change for a large school, such as taking on one or two School Direct trainees for the first time, may represent a relatively significant change for a small school. The key is the extent to which the change creates new levels of accountability and responsibility for the leadership group member. It will be for the governing body to determine in the light of a school’s particular circumstances and context the extent to which any change should be regarded as ‘significant’.”

The definition still gives governing bodies a wide discretion to interpret when pay levels should be reviewed, but it is helpful to know that “new levels of accountability and responsibility” are two such examples.