Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press Association of Colleges' release entitled AoC update on college pay, published in July 2018, if he will he take steps to close the £7000 a year pay disparity between teachers working in further education colleges compared with their counterparts in schools.

The further education (FE) sector – including FE colleges – has a different legal status and relationship to the government when compared with schools. FE colleges are private sector institutions, independent of the government. It is for individual FE employers to agree local pay structures with unions, based on local needs.

The department values all of our teachers and leaders in FE who change lives for the better. Since 2013, we have invested over £120 million in the FE workforce, including investing in workforce development through the independent Education and Training Foundation (ETF).

Having enough highly-skilled FE teachers in place to deliver high-quality, work-relevant skills training is essential, particularly for the successful delivery of T Levels and apprenticeships. This is why we have committed up to £20 million to help providers, teachers and leaders prepare to deliver T Levels. This includes launching Taking Teaching Further, a £5 million programme to attract industry professionals to teach in FE.

FE providers help to make sure people have the skills they need to get on in life, which is why we have protected base rate funding for 16 to 19 year olds until 2020. However, we acknowledge that FE faces cost pressures. This is why the department has been actively engaging with the sector to look closely at how we fund providers to ensure that the system supports sustainable, high-quality education. We will be looking carefully at these issues in the Spending Review.