Improvements in teacher pay, higher representation of Black governors and an uptick in permanent contracts have been identified in new FE workforce data.
The third release of the Department for Education’s collection, as promised in the 2021 Skills for Jobs white paper, covers FE workforce statistics from 1,326 general FE colleges, sixth form colleges and training providers for the 2023-24 academic year.
Here are some of the key takeaways…
FE college teachers earned 6.1% more than previous year
The median salary for teachers in general FE colleges rose 6.1 per cent in 2023-24, increasing from £34,234 in 2022-23 to £36,316.
The part of the sector that saw the biggest teacher pay rise was “other public funded provider” with a 9.1 per cent increase to £38,626 in one year. This group includes HE providers, local authority providers and a small number of university technical colleges, specialist colleges and 16 to 19 free schools.
Sixth form college teachers remain the highest paid in further education, earning a median of £47,133, which is a 6.5 per cent jump from the previous academic year when they earned £44,256.
Teachers in independent training providers (ITPs) are among the lowest median salaries, at £31,200 in 2023-24, 4 per cent higher than £30,000 the prior year.
DfE’s statistics only count the median annual salary for teachers on full-time equivalent (FTE) contracts, so permanent and fixed-term staff only.
The number of FTE teachers in FE colleges and sixth forms increased from 35,900 in 2022-23 to 36,600 in 2023-24.
| Teacher | Support | Admin | Manager | Leader | |
| General FE College incl Tertiary | £36,316 | £23,034 | £25,580 | £44,315 | £70,598 |
| Sixth Form College | £47,133 | £24,082 | £26,838 | £49,757 | £73,111 |
| Private Sector Public Funded | £31,000 | £25,000 | £27,000 | £40,015 | £56,000 |
| Other Public Funded Provider | £38,626 | £23,765 | £27,810 | £43,134 | £62,326 |
| Independent Training Provider (ITP) | £31,200 | £30,000 | £27,000 | £41,000 | £56,000 |
| Local Authority with an Education Remit | £32,378 | £25,742 | £27,803 | £39,513 | £55,125 |
| School Based Providers | £47,133 | £22,432 | £25,496 | £49,243 | £71,728 |
| Special Post-16 Institution | £31,000 | £22,303 | £25,958 | £38,376 | £57,000 |
No gender pay gap among sixth form teachers
The data release also revealed that female sixth form college teachers have been paid equally to their male counterparts for the second year running.
Both earned a median salary of £44,256 in 2022-23, going up to £47,133 in 2023-24.
In general FE colleges (GFEC), the teacher gender pay gap remained similar to last year. Women earned 3.75 per cent lower than men – £35,620 compared with £36,984.
Meanwhile, the gap widened among GFE college leaders.
In 2022-23, women leaders earned a median of £64,955, which was 5.3 per cent less than men who earnt£68,497. In 2023-24, women earnt 5.6 per cent less (£68,895 vs £72,901).
There were some positive pay gaps, where women earned more than men. This was among leaders in school-based providers, where female leaders were paid a median of £72,608, compared to male leaders earning £70,078. The proportion of women in this sector was 52.9 per cent as opposed to 47.1 per cent of men.
SEND support staff lowest paid in FE
Support staff working in specialist post-16 institutions were the lowest paid group in FE in 2023-24.
They were paid a median salary of £22,303, up 8.2 per cent from £20,601 the year prior.
The dataset also showed that specialist colleges have proportionally more support staff than any other provider in FE.
There was a headcount of 6,288 support staff in SEND colleges, making up 63.4 per cent of all staff in the specialist institutions.
FE teacher vacancy rate at 3.9 per 100, stats show
DfE’s statistics show that by the end of the 2023-24 academic year, 3.9 per 100 teaching positions were vacant in FE.
GFECs reported a 4 per 100 vacancy rate, and ITPs said they had 3.6 per 100 of unfilled positions. The highest rate was amongst local authorities with an education remit, with an unfilled teaching vacancy rate of 6.8.
Sixth form colleges (1.0 per 100) had the lowest unfilled vacancy rate for teaching staff and other public funded providers the highest (5.4 per 100).
Meanwhile, 2.3 per 100 leadership positions across FE were vacant and 6.6 per 100 governor positions were unfilled.
Separated by subjects, the highest unfilled vacancy rates per 100 teaching positions were economics (11), functional skills – IT (9.2) and SEND – communication (8).
DfE caveated the data, saying that it was incomparable to previous data, as only 79.8 per cent of providers filled this in and were a different set of providers from the 2022-23 cohort.
But fresher data reported last month by the National Audit Office found the FE sector was the “worst affected” type of education provider by long-term recruitment pressures with a teaching vacancy rate of 5.1 of every 100 roles. This amounts to 2,500 empty positions in colleges as opposed to 1,500 schoolteacher vacancies.
Susan Acland-Hood, permanent secretary of the DfE, recently told the public accounts committee that the government was more “concerned” about the FE vacancy rate than schools.
More teaching staff on permanent contracts
Today’s stats also showed that the proportion of all FE staff on permanent contracts has increased over the last three years.
A total of 81.9 per cent of staff in 2021-22 were permanently employed, rising to 84.8 per cent in 2023-24.
The increase was also seen among teaching staff, where 80.9 per cent had permanent contracts, up from 79.2 per cent in 2022-23.
It explains the rise the number of FTE teachers. There were 35,900 in 2022-23, increasing to 36,600 in 2023-24.
Unions have long fought to “stamp out” casualisation amongst teacher contracts in FE. Members of the University and College Union recently voted at its FE sector conference to work to protect the roles of casualised staff in FE from redundancy and to set up a group to increase the membership of casual FE staff.
Fewer governors in post longer than 9 years
Colleges and sixth forms reported a decline in the headcount of governors, based on a 92 per cent response rate.
In 2023-24, there were 3,700 governors, down from 3,800 the previous year.
Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of governors in GFECs were independent governors, higher than the 67.4 per cent reported in sixth form colleges.
But given that sixth forms have to have parent governors, the stats show that parent governors accounted for 6.3 per cent of all sixth form college governors.
In terms of their length of service, the data shows most governors have joined their boards in recent years, as directed by the FE commissioner in 2022.
Just over two-thirds (68.3 per cent) of governors had been in their role for four years or less. In 2023-24, compared to 66.6 per cent the previous year.
Sixth form colleges have more governors who have been in their role for 12 years or longer, 10 per cent compared to 2.6 per cent in GFECs.
In GFECs, governors serving terms more than the recommended eight years have diminished in size. Around 9 per cent of governors were in post for nine years or longer in 2021-22, a proportion which fell to 7.3 per cent in 2023-24.
FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave previously said that governors serving long terms were “too comfortable” with senior teams and recently reiterated the concern to principals following a governance failure investigation into Weston College.
In a letter sent to principals last week, Legrave reminded colleges that a governor should not normally serve for more than two terms or a maximum of eight years.
She said: “The Further Education Code of Good Governance says that a governor should not normally serve for more than two terms or a maximum of eight years. A governor’s term of office should be extended beyond the recommended maximum only in exceptional circumstances (which would not include any individual being ‘irreplaceable’).”
Slight increase in Black governors
Ethnicity data shows a marginally growing population of Black governors in FE. A total of 18.8 per cent identified as belonging to and ethnic minority group in 2023-24, up from 18.2 per cent in 2021-22.
The figures also reveal a smaller proportion of Asian and white governors in 2023-24.
Asian and Asian British governors made up 7.1 per cent of the cohort in 2021-22, declining minutely to 6.8 per cent last year.
While still the majority, there were 86.6 per cent of white governors on college boards in 2021-22, dropping to 85.7 per cent most recently.
However, the proportion Black governors and governors from mixed ethnicities has increased.
Around 4 per cent of governors identified as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, up from 3.7 per cent in the first year’s data release. Additionally, just 1.9 per cent of governors were of mixed or multiple ethnicities in 2021-22, which increased to 3.1 per cent in 2023-24.
By comparison, the 2021 Census shows 10.1 per cent of the working age population were Asian or Asian British and 4.4 were Black or Black British.
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | |
| Asian/Asian British | 7.1% | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| Black/African/Caribbean/Black British | 3.7% | 3.7% | 4.0% |
| Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups | 1.9% | 2.5% | 3.1% |
| Other ethnic group | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.5% |
| White | 86.6% | 85.9% | 85.7% |
Your thoughts