Support staff: pay scales and progression

Find who sets the pay for school support staff, different pay progression arrangements, and pay for support staff following academy conversion.

Last reviewed on 20 December 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 4354
Contents
  1. There’s no statutory pay scale or progression framework for support staff
  2. Determining pay on appointment
  3. Pay progression
  4. Pay after academy conversion

There’s no statutory pay scale or progression framework for support staff

It’s the employer’s responsibility to agree pay and progression with support staff such as teaching assistants (TAs) and higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs). Who the employer is depends on your school type:

  • Community or voluntary-controlled (VC) school - the local authority (LA) is the legal employer, so pay and conditions for support staff are based on the LA's scale of pay grades
  • Foundation or voluntary-aided (VA) school - the governing board is responsible for determining the pay and conditions for support staff
  • Academy - your trust can set its own pay and conditions, but staff whose employment transferred to the academy at the point of conversion retain their existing pay and conditions (unless the trust renegotiated these after the transfer)

Schools where the LA is the employer must use the LA’s set pay scales and conditions for support staff. These are usually based on