National pay for teachers 'undermining school standards'

Now here’s something that is guaranteed to get people all excited.

Researchers warned that imposing fixed salary levels across the country led to serious staff vacancies and underperformance in more affluent areas where private sector pay was higher.

It was claimed that national pay in state schools – a system fiercely protected by teaching unions – resulted in an average drop of one GCSE grade per pupil as schools struggled to recruit and retain good teachers.

Pupils in areas such as the Home Counties and leafy suburbs surrounding major cities such as Manchester and Birmingham were most likely to be hit, researchers warned.

Prof Carol Propper, from Bristol University’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation, which published the study, said the findings presented “strong evidence” that national salary scales had a “negative impact on pupils’ learning”.

In my view, one of the reasons why the north of England or even Scotland under-performs the south east and London is because the economy is frankly overpriced over there as one reason. When the costs are so high, why would anybody move up there to setup jobs? And once you spread this reason around, you will see why things like education is challenging.