Sixth Form Colleges Association launches legal challenge over Government decision to fund pay award for staff in schools but not colleges

The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) has launched judicial review proceedings over a decision by the Department for Education to exclude colleges from this summer’s 5.5% school teacher pay award.

It urged the Government to “redress the imbalance” created by ministers by “immediately” extending the pay award to colleges, to match the arrangements in schools.

The Association said: “Sixth form colleges already receive 22% less funding than secondary schools. Yet they teach the same curriculum, recruit from the same pool of teachers, and must remain competitive if they are to continue providing the best learning opportunities for tens of thousands of students.”

The SFCA said it has been working to reach a “satisfactory solution” on the matter since the summer, but that in September it took the decision to seek a judicial review on the basis that it had been “left with no choice”.

It warned: “Colleges, staff and students need an urgent resolution. Following its ballot of sixth form college teachers, the National Education Union has already announced three days of strike action, and students in sixth form colleges are at risk of having their education disrupted.”

Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “The decision of the SFCA to launch a judicial review draws further attention to the mystifying choice by the Government to differentiate between teachers in academised and non-academised sixth form colleges for this year's pay award. It should give the Government pause for thought and may have ramifications for further education as a whole. 

“We have tried without success, as yet, to convince the Government to guarantee that colleges can spend additional funding on staff pay as they rightly should. Our members will be taking strike action in the coming weeks should this not happen. Strike action is always a last resort for teachers and we remain hopeful that the Government will do the honourable thing and make this right, to avoid a protracted dispute.”

Lottie Winson