The government’s claim its teacher pay deal is “fully-funded” on a national level is backed up by evidence, but ministers must be more transparent about affordability for individual schools, the statistics watchdog has ruled.
The Department for Education has agreed to publish more information on high needs funding in future school costs analysis after intervention from the Office for Statistics Regulation, amid fears national figures mask greater financial difficulty in special schools.
Officials referred themselves to the watchdog over their claim the pay offer of £1,000 this year and 4.3 per cent rises for most teachers next year is fully-funded. The National Education Union also complained about the claim.
Today the OSR ruled that although it was “not within our remit to judge the affordability of any pay offer”, the DfE “has evidenced its claim that the offer is fully funded in line with its definition”.
