Teaching Practitioners Salary Structure - FAQs

Who is eligible for the new teaching salary scale?

The new salary scale is for teaching staff who are part of the Learning & Teaching job family employed on the Teaching Practitioner pathway.

What about the other parts of the Learning & Teaching job family?

Learning Technologists and Ed-Techs will remain part of the Learning & Teaching job family. However, for pay purposes only, the College agreed with the UCU that they will continue to be part of the Professional, Technical, Operational and Learning salary scale (PTO&L).

Staff employed on the Educational Research pathway within the Learning and Teaching family, either as Associate Professor of/ Reader in Education or Professor of Education, undertake the same duties as staff on the Academic job family. They are therefore paid in line with the minimum salaries for the equivalent grades on the Academic salary scale.

How will managers know which pathway they are appointing to? (Practitioner, Learning Technologists/Ed-Techs, Educational Research)?

Role profiles for the job family are available on the learning and teaching promotion webpage.

Why are we introducing a new salary scale for teaching staff?

The College is reviewing all salary scales in line with the Equality Act. The new salary scale follows the introduction of a 29-point scale for Academic staff in 2018 and for Research staff in 2019.

The new teaching salary scale has fewer spine points to comply with equality legislation. The percentage increase of each increment step is larger in comparison to the previous scale, allowing progression to take place at a faster rate.

For more information on the Equality Act and the nine protected characteristics, please visit the equality, diversity and inclusion webpages.

The new salary structure introduces new grade names for Teaching Practitioners

What is happening to Teaching Practitioners’ job titles?

We are not reviewing job titles as part of this phase and so job titles will largely remain unchanged. At this stage, only the name of grades are changing to move teaching practitioners over to the new Teaching salary scale. It has been agreed with the UCU that there will be a phase 2 workstream which will include a review of job titles used for the Teaching Practitioner pathway.

What grade titles are being reviewed as part of phase 2 of implementation?

Most grade titles are confirmed and won’t change, but grade titles for Teaching Fellows equivalent to Level 6 and Level 7 are to be determined.

I started at the bottom of the scale a few years ago and now will be on the same spine point as those who will start at the College after 1 April 2021. Why is this?

The new salary scale has been developed to aid recruitment and retention of all staff in this job family and, like the old structure, the new structure has automatic increments. For those staff with an entitlement to automatic incremental progression, salaries will increase each year up to the maximum of the new salary scale.

As part of the College’s commitment to equality of pay, new and existing staff are being treated the same, which means new members of staff will benefit from salary levels that were not in place prior to 1 April 2021. This is in line with how we implemented the Academic salary scale and the Research salary scale.

How will progression work?

Assistant Teaching Fellow (Level 3a) Progression through the grade spine points happens automatically on 1 October. The standard maximum spine point for this grade is 17 but staff can progress to point 18 based on their achievement and contribution to the College, assessed against the Pay Relativity criteria. 

Teaching Fellow (Level 3b) Progression through the grade spine points happens automatically on 1 October. The current minimum spine point (point 19) will be removed at a future date which has not yet been determined.

Senior Teaching Fellows (Level 4) Progression through the grade spine points happens automatically on 1 October up to spine point 28. Progression to point 29 is non-automatic and can be reached via Pay Relativity. The salary cap for this grade has been removed and individuals are able to receive pay above the salary scale maximum based on their achievement and contribution to the College, assessed against the Pay Relativity criteria.

Principal Teaching Fellows (Level 5) The salary cap for this grade has been removed and individuals are able to receive pay above the salary scale maximum based on their achievement and contribution to the College, assessed against the Pay Relativity criteria.

Teaching Fellow (Level 6) (exact job title to be determined) The grade continues to operate with a minimum salary, with increases based on achievement and contribution to the College, assessed against the Pay Relativity criteria. Some areas have used the job title ‘Professorial Teaching Fellow’. A new job and grade title will be determined as part of the phase 2 work.

On what basis has an equivalent level 7 role been introduced?

The Professional Services job family spans Levels 1a to Level 7. Prior to the introduction of the new salary scale, grades for Teaching Practitioners went from Level 3a to Level 6. The new Teaching Practitioner equivalent Level 7 grade has been introduced to enable the same level of career progression for teaching staff. The requirements for the new grade and the grade title will be determined as part of the phase 2 work.

How have employees been mapped across to the new teaching salary scale?

Employees have been mapped across according to their grade (not their job title). The progression question above outlines how the grades on the PTO&L scale map across to grades on the new teaching salary scale. Employees are transitioned onto the new scale on a no detriment basis – no-one will have their salary reduced. Staff are moved to the closest point on the new scale in line with their current salary.

Gender and ethnicity gap findings for this group

Analysis of the new salary structure showed that the gender and ethnicity pay gaps for the Learning & Teaching job family will be reduced and would continue to reduce further over time.

Can new appointments be made to the spine points on the salary scale that will no longer be in use in the future?

Spine point 19 is the current minimum point for the Teaching Fellow grade. It will be removed at a future date which has not yet been determined. All new appointments should continue to be made on spine point 19, until it is removed.

What is happening in the second phase?

In phase two, terms of reference will be developed and presented at the Provost Board meeting in June. This will likely include a review of elements of both the Learning & Teaching and Research job families’ terms and conditions including the format and frequency of the promotion process and the use of fixed-term contracts and job titles, with the aim to achieve equivalence and alignment between the two job families where appropriate. An assessment will also be undertaken to determine when spine point 19 should be removed. The terms of reference will be shared once they have been developed and agreed by Provost’s Board.