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195 days, 1,265 hours, and a pay floor for academy teachers: three questions sent to the review body

Qurexa Editorial Team23 October 20266 min read 0 0
195 days, 1,265 hours, and a pay floor for academy teachers: three questions sent to the review body

What happened

On 22 October 2026 the Education Secretary, the Rt Hon Lucy Powell MP, wrote to Dr Mike Aldred, Chair of the School Teachers' Review Body, to start the next round of its work. The School Teachers' Review Body, or STRB, is an independent body that makes recommendations on teachers' pay and conditions in England. It has already given recommendations on pay for 2026/27 and 2027/28, so this year's letter is about working conditions instead. Three things have been referred to it for recommendation. First, how to introduce a minimum pay floor for teachers in academy schools and alternative provision academies, so they cannot be paid below the minimum set out in the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document. The letter asks the STRB to consider whether each existing pay range needs its own floor, or whether a single floor for all teachers would work better. Second, how the pay ceiling should be removed for maintained schools, giving schools the option to pay above the published ranges to attract and keep staff. Third, a targeted amendment to the rule that a full-time teacher must be available for work on 195 days a year. The Education Secretary asked for recommendations by April 2027, so that changes can be made before 1 September 2027.

Why this matters

The 195-day question is the one that will interest most teachers, and it is more specific than it sounds. At the moment the rules say a full-time teacher must be available for work for 195 days, and must perform duties for 1,265 hours, allocated reasonably across those days. The letter says there is ambiguity about whether schools can offer flexibility in individual teachers' working patterns within that framework. The proposal is to clarify that teachers may work their directed hours on up to 195 days, rather than exactly 195. That would let a head teacher agree, for example, a four-day working pattern for a teacher who wants one, without being unsure whether the rules allow it. The letter is careful about limits. Any recommendation must not require a full-time teacher to be available on more than 195 days, and must not increase directed hours above 1,265. It explicitly says this "should not be considered a wider review of teachers' working hours or directed time arrangements". The pay floor matters for a different reason. Academies have not been legally required to follow the national pay framework. Under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act, all teachers get a guaranteed minimum pay offer whether they work in a maintained school, an academy, or an alternative provision academy. A "have regard" duty will mean academies must follow the pay and conditions framework unless they have a good reason not to, and the government intends to introduce that from September 2027.

What the evidence actually says

It is worth separating what is settled from what is still open. Settled: the pay rises. The letter says these awards build on the almost 10% increase teachers have received over the last two years, and that by September 2027 teachers will have seen a 17% increase in pay since this government took office. Those recommendations have already been made. Open: everything in this letter. The STRB has been asked for recommendations, and the government will then decide what to implement. Also worth noting, because it is easy to misread: removing the pay ceiling does not mean abolishing pay ranges. The letter says the published ranges should remain the benchmark for all schools, and that current threshold arrangements will not be removed or revised. For leadership pay, it asks whether the existing facility for head teachers to be paid up to 25% above the maximum of their group, and beyond 25% in exceptional circumstances, is enough flexibility, or whether the ceiling should go entirely, and whether that flexibility should extend to assistant and deputy heads. Where a school chooses to pay above the ranges, the letter says it should set out its intentions clearly in its pay policy, after substantive discussion with governors, including on long-term cost implications, value for money, risks, and equalities and fairness. And on the 195-day change, there is a firm guardrail for parents. Any recommendation must not affect pupil time in schools. Maintained schools are expected to continue providing 380 sessions, normally equivalent to 190 days a year, all state-funded schools should keep educating pupils five days a week, and non-statutory guidance sets an expectation of a core school week of at least 32.5 hours. The STRB has also been told to have regard to the cost pressures schools already face, equalities impacts, how difficult changes would be to implement, evidence on teacher and leader supply, the wider labour market including the further education workforce, and the flexibilities that already exist.

Practical advice

**If you are a teacher,** the thing to watch is your school's pay policy, not the national headlines. If the pay ceiling is removed, decisions about paying above the range will be made locally and written into that policy after discussion with governors. **If you work in an academy,** the pay floor is the change most likely to affect you directly. Note that the letter says the floor is intended to cover pay only, not allowances, not Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments, and not a link to pensions. **If you want a different working pattern,** nothing stops you asking now. Flexible working requests are already a legal right. The proposed change is about removing doubt, not creating permission from scratch. **If you are a governor or trustee,** the long-term cost implications line in the letter is aimed at you. A decision to pay above the range is a multi-year commitment. **If you are a parent,** the 195-day change does not mean fewer school days for your child. Pupil time is explicitly protected. **If you want to influence it,** the STRB takes written evidence from unions, employers and other statutory consultees as part of each remit cycle.

What to know

The Education Secretary has asked the School Teachers' Review Body for recommendations by April 2027 on three things: how to introduce a minimum pay floor for academy and alternative provision academy teachers, how to remove the pay ceiling for maintained schools, and a targeted change to the 195-day availability rule so teachers can work their 1,265 directed hours on up to 195 days. Pay ranges and threshold arrangements stay. Directed hours do not rise. Pupil time is protected, with 380 sessions and a core 32.5-hour week expected to continue. The government also intends to introduce the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act "have regard" duty for academies from September 2027. Sources: GOV.UK (Department for Education), "School Teachers' Review Body remit letter: working conditions for 2027", 22 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-teachers-review-body-remit-letter-working-conditions-for-2027; Department for Education, "Letter from Lucy Powell to Dr Mike Aldred", 22 October 2026, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ada04d5b62d80a107bc5bc5/Letter_from_Lucy_Powell_to_Dr_Mike_Aldred.pdf. This article is for general information only. It is not legal, financial or medical advice. For anything about your own health or medicines, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.

#teachers pay#STRB#academies#working conditions#Department for Education#school workforce

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