How much are striking teachers paid?

By Cheryl Peebles

November 22 2022, 3:49pm

Teachers' pay starts at £28,113 for a probationer. Image: Shutterstock.

Teachers are striking for better wages – but how much do teachers currently get paid in Scotland?

Teaching union, the EIS, the largest of three behind the industrial action, is campaigning for a 10% rise, having already rejected offers of 5% and a ‘progressive’ offer of up to 6.85%.

As members prepare for a series of walkouts leading to widespread closure of schools, we have looked at the pay grades of teachers, from probationers to head teachers.

We’ve also looked at the salaries being offered for posts advertised in Dundee, Angus, Fife and Perth and Kinross schools.

Teachers’ pay bands in Scotland

These are the pay scales across Scotland for each level:

Probationer – £28,113
Teacher – £33,729 – £42,336 (5 grades)
Principal teacher – £46,158 – £59,571 (8 grades)
Depute head teacher and head teacher – £52,350 – £99,609 (19 grades)

Salaries offered in Dundee, Angus, Fife, Perthshire and Kinross

Kinross Primary School is looking to appoint a new depute head teacher, offering a salary of £57,657 (grade 4).

A Gaelic medium education primary teacher is wanted at Breadalbane Academy, Perthshire, with pay from £28,113 to £42,336.

At Levenmouth Academy, in Fife, a principal teacher for additional support needs is being offered a salary of £49,989.

Bell Baxter High School in Cupar. Image: DC Thomson.

When a new head teacher was sought for Bell Baxter High School a year ago, the advertised salary was £94,608 – the second highest grade at the time. With almost 1,500 pupils, the Cupar school is one of the area’s larger secondaries.

Arbroath Academy is seeking a geography teacher on the main scale of £28,113 to £42,336.

Supply teachers for primary and secondary schools are being offered between £119 and £180 a day by Dundee City Council.

Why should teachers be paid more?

Dundee school strike EIS — A rally at Dundee’s Caird Hall, in support of the Pay Attention campaign. Image: Alan Richardson.

According to the EIS’ Pay Attention campaign there are several reasons why teachers deserve a better pay offer.

These include:

To mitigate the rising cost-of-living
To reward their ‘heroic’ delivery of education during lockdown and as schools reopened while the Covid threat remained high
Excessive and increasing workload
Gender pay equity in a majority female profession
To attract the best graduates and new teachers

When are teachers striking?

Three strike dates have been announced by the EIS as negotiations continue – November 24, January 10 (primary teachers) and January 11 (secondary teachers). The AHDS union for head, depute and principal teachers is also striking on November 24.

Members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association in Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth and Kinross will strike on December 8.