This article describes the framework for the pay and conditions of service for teachers and the main decision-making bodies involved. This framework covers teachers from their first appointment and induction as a beginning teacher through to middle management roles, and  is mandatory for grant-aided schools. The article does not cover teachers in independent schools. Nor does it cover staff in voluntary and independent pre-school provision.

Also, the article does not cover the framework for the pay and conditions of service for principals (school heads) or vice principals. The pay and conditions for this ‘leadership group’ are dealt with in the article on ‘Management Staff for Early Childhood and School Education’.

The Teachers' (Eligibility) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, as amended, provide for the regulation of the qualifications, age and health requirements for persons eligible to teach.

The Department of Education determines teachers' pay in accordance with the provisions of Article 69 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, and following negotiations with the Teachers' Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee (Schools). Circular 2016/24 outlines teachers' pay and allowances from 1 September 2016.

The terms and conditions of employment of teachers in grant-aided schools are governed by the Teachers' (Terms and Conditions of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (and the Amendment Regulations of 1988, No. 229). Made under Articles 70 and 134 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, these regulations set out the professional duties of teachers. Other contractual changes and agreed schemes and procedures are normally issued by the employing authorities or their representative bodies.

Within these frameworks, employing authorities hold teachers’ contracts and are responsible for determining terms and conditions of employment; negotiating with trade unions; and strategic workforce planning. The body that is the employing authority depends on the type of school:

• The Education Authority (EA) is the employing authority for teachers in controlled schools.
• The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) is the employing authority for teachers in Catholic voluntary maintained schools.
• The board of governors of a non Catholic voluntary maintained school is the employing authority for teachers in its own school.
• The board of governors of a voluntary grammar or grant maintained integrated school is the employing authority for teachers in its own school.

In addition, the board of governors of each individual school is responsible for a number of staffing functions, including:

• determining the school’s staffing complement
• recruiting, selecting and appointing staff
• deciding on payments and allowances
• managing the performance of the principal, staff attendance, staff training and development
• regulating staff conduct and managing discipline, dismissals or resignations.

The quality and status of the profession is supported through regulation by the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI).  It is responsible for the registration of all teachers wishing to teach in grant-aided schools, in accordance with the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. It is also responsible for the regulation of the profession, and advises the Department of Education and the employing authorities on a wide range of issues, including training, career development and performance management of teachers, and standards of teaching and standards of conduct for teachers.

The Teachers' Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee (Schools) comprises the employing authorities or their representatives, the Department of Education and the five recognised teachers' unions. The teachers’ unions are:

• the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO)
• the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
• the Ulster Teachers' Union (UWU)
• the National Education Union (NEU)
• the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT).

Teachers are responsible for managing their own careers and recruitment is undertaken solely by schools. First appointment to a post and subsequent advancement depend on successfully competing for a vacancy. Promotion is determined by schools. There are no regulations in relation to teacher mobility and transfer; teachers are employed to work at a particular school and are only deployed elsewhere in the event of there being informal local arrangements.

Teachers’ pension arrangements are determined by the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme (NITPS), a contributory scheme, managed by the Department of Education.

Planning Policy  

The Department of Education (DE) sets annual intake quotas for initial teacher training places in the light of assessed requirements of the number and type of teachers needed and assumptions of likely trends.

Investing in the teaching workforce

In April 2018, following the completion of a pilot, the Investing in the Teaching Workforce Scheme was launched. The Scheme allows teachers in permanent posts who were aged 55 years or above at 30 April 2018 to apply for premature retirement. The aim is to refresh the teaching workforce and provide job opportunities for teachers who qualified in the years 2013 up to and including 2017 by releasing up to 200 teachers aged 55+ in 2018/19. The Scheme will not continue in 2019/20.

Entry to the profession 

Teachers are not civil servants. They apply for specific teaching posts through an open recruitment process.

The employment of teachers is subject to the provisions made in the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. Under Part VI  of this legislation, all teachers who wish to teach in grant-aided schools must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI). In addition, the Teachers' (Eligibility) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, as amended, specify the qualifications, age, and health requirements for persons eligible to teach.

Boards of governors are responsible for school-specific functions in the recruitment and selection process including preparing job descriptions, interviewing candidates and selecting and appointing staff. Governors of controlled and Catholic-maintained schools are supported in the recruitment process by the provision of schemes by the Education Authority and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) respectively. These schemes detail the procedures to be followed in relation to the appointment of teachers and are approved by the Department of Education. 

In the other types of maintained school - voluntary grammar schools and grant-maintained integrated schools - boards of governors are responsible for determining their own staff recruitment and selection and appointment procedures, but must comply with the procedures in the school’s scheme of management and all relevant employment and child protection legislation.

In all types of school, while overall responsibility for staffing matters including recruitment and appointment of teachers lies with the board of governors, many staffing functions are delegated to the principal.

Before making any teaching appointments, including the appointment of any substitute teacher, the school must ensure that the teacher is registered with the GTCNI. Teachers can only be appointed to a Catholic-maintained school if they hold a recognised Certificate in Religious Education. Substitute teachers should also be registered with the Northern Ireland Substitute Teachers Register (NISTR). For further information on substitute teachers, see the subsection ‘Replacement measures’.

Applications for posts at a school must be judged on their merits against the objective requirements of the job. Anti-discrimination law in Northern Ireland prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religious belief, political opinion, race, disability, sex, marital status, sexual orientation and age. In addition, specific obligations are imposed on 'public authorities' in respect of the need to promote equality, and the desirability of promoting good relations, under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The recruitment of teachers in schools in Northern Ireland is exempt from the Fair Employment legislation which prohibits religious discrimination.

For a comprehensive guide to the staffing responsibilities of the board of governors and how these fit in with the responsibilities of the principal and the employing authority, see chapter 9, ‘School Staff', of the Department of Education’s Guide to governor roles and responsibilities (2018).

Safer recruitment measures 

As indicated above, recruitment procedures must comply with child protection legislation. The key features of the process include:

• All new, paid teaching and non-teaching staff being appointed to posts in schools must undergo a pre-employment vetting check before taking up their post.
• All staff working with children require an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate which shows the details of an individual’s full criminal record. The responsibility for undertaking criminal history background checks is that of AccessNI, a branch within the Department of Justice.
• Boards of governors are responsible for ensuring that at least one governor on each staff recruitment and selection interview panel has undertaken appropriate child protection training.

In addition, vetting is considered to be only one of a number of important elements in preventing unsuitable people working with children. Safer recruitment procedures require schools to take account of other key aspects such as a candidate’s application form, interview, references and knowledge of their employment history and experience.

The Child Protection Support Service (CPSS), which has staff in each Education Authority (EA) region, provides advice and training for schools on child protection matters. Together with the Department of Education, it has developed guidance for school governors (revised in 2017) on safeguarding and child protection.

Induction

Induction is an essential phase in the integrated, competence-based approach to teacher training which comprises four stages:

1. initial teacher education (ITE)
2. induction for beginning teachers, which takes one year (three terms), full-time
3. early professional development (EPD) during the second and third years in teaching
4. continuing professional development (CPD), collaborative practice and school improvement.

During induction, beginning teachers follow a programme of Education Authority (EA) and, where appropriate, school-based professional development, provided by the EA’s Induction and EPD Team. This is intended to support successful completion of the core requirements of induction. The requirements and competences expected of beginning teachers during the induction period (and of those in the other phases of teaching) are set out by the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) in Teaching: the Reflective Profession (GTCNI, 2011). Induction is informed by the ‘career entry profile’, which is completed at the end of initial teacher education and outlines the strengths of the beginning teacher and areas for further development.

Induction involves mentoring by an experienced teacher, the teacher-tutor, whose role is to guide and support the beginning teacher through successful completion of the Induction and EPD stages and to coordinate the beginning teacher programme within school.In addition, as outlined on page 23 of the Department of Education (DE) Teacher Professional Learning Strategy, Learning Leaders (2016), beginning teachers are also expected to have a formal link with a higher education institution throughout the induction year and, if appropriate, beyond.

Beginning teachers do not have a statutory right to a reduced teaching timetable, but the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) recommends a 10% reduction in teaching load.

The board of governors approves completion of the teacher’s induction period, following recommendation by the school principal, and the GTCNI holds a record of completion. 

The EA provides support and resources for induction, in partnership with schools and higher education institutions. Guidance is also available from the Teacher Education Partnership Handbook (2010), which draws together in one place guidance for student teachers, beginning teachers, teacher-tutors and others with a role in early teacher education.

Professional status 

Teachers are public employees, but not civil servants. They are not guaranteed employment at any stage of their professional life, but must apply for specific posts. 

Employment contracts 

Appointments are made either on a permanent (that is, open-ended) basis or on a fixed-term contract. Beginning teachers in their induction year have the same employment status as other qualified teachers.

Teachers’ professional duties are specified in their contract of employment, made under the Teachers’ Terms and Conditions of Employment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987. See ‘Working time and holidays’ for more information.

A teacher's contract of employment is with the employing authority; however, many of the functions of the employer are delegated to the school.

Professional teacher competences 

Teacher competences as the basis for personal reflection, professional dialogue and collaborative planning for professional development are set out in Teaching: the Reflective Profession, published by the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) in 2011. Competences are organised within three broad areas:

• professional values and practice
• professional knowledge and understanding
• professional skills and application.

The professional competences underpin the entire extent of teacher careers, from initial teacher training, through induction and early professional development to continuing professional development, collaborative practice and school improvement. For more information see the section ‘Curriculum, level of specialisation and learning outcomes’ in the article ‘Initial Education'.

Professional registration and Code of Values 

The General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Education. It is responsible for the registration of teachers once they have successfully completed an initial teacher education programme. Teachers pay an annual registration fee. The GTCNI has a statutory duty to maintain a register of teachers, approve qualifications for the purposes of registration and provide regulation. As part of its regulatory duty, it is responsible for disciplinary functions with regard to professional misconduct and, if a registered teacher’s conduct falls short of the professional competences, the GTCNI will investigate and, if necessary, remove them from the register.

The Code of Values and Professional Practice for teachers incorporates commitments to learners, colleagues, other stakeholders and the profession. The core values are: trust, respect, integrity, honesty, fairness, tolerance, commitment, quality and service. The Code forms an integral part of Teaching: the Reflective Profession (see the subheading ‘Professional teacher competences’ above). 

Replacement measures 

Substitute teachers employed by grant-aided schools to cover teacher absences must be booked via the Northern Ireland Substitute Teachers Register (NISTR). This is in accordance with Department of Education Circular 2008/10. 

The application process to join the NISTR includes checks to ensure that substitute teachers are suitable to work with children, are eligible to teach, satisfy health requirements and are registered with the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI). The Teachers Negotiating Committee (TNC) Circular 2016/1 provides guidance on the appropriate use of the NISTR, paying particular attention to the circumstances in which it is permissible to engage substitute teachers. For example, they may be engaged to provide immediate, unplanned, and short-term cover normally for a period not in excess of six months or to fill short-term vacancies which, at the outset, are known to last no more than six months.

If the absence is unforeseen, teachers may be expected to provide cover for an absent colleague. However, in schools with an average daily enrolment of 222 pupils or less, this cover should not extend beyond one day, or two days in schools with a higher daily enrolment. In very small schools with three teachers or fewer, staff are not expected to provide cover. Further information is provided in the Teachers' (Terms and Conditions of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987. Made under Articles 70 and 134 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, these regulations set out the professional duties of teachers.

Support measures 

Each school’s board of governors has a general duty of care in respect of the health, safety and welfare of all members of staff and others who may be using school premises. The Teachers Negotiating Committee (TNC) Circular Teacher Attendance Procedure (2008/2) provides advice and guidance to governors on monitoring teacher absence due to sickness. There are other policies and procedures in place to assist and support teachers, such as those relating to Temporary Variation of Contract (TNC 2009/7), Flexible Working Scheme (TNC 2009/6) and Career Break Scheme (TNC 2009/5). Links to these and other circulars can be found on the Leave of Absence page of the DE website.  

Within the school, responsibility for the well-being of staff lies with the principal. Depending on the size of the school, first-line responsibility for some of the actions to be taken may be delegated to another member of the senior leadership team within the school, or to the teacher’s line manager, i.e. the person who directs and manages an individual teacher’s work. 

Support, training and development needs should also be identified by the performance management arrangements (see the subheading ‘Organisational aspects’ in the article on ‘Continuing Professional Development’). 

For beginning teachers in their first year of teaching, the induction phase is designed to ensure additional support. See section above on ‘Induction’ for further information.

After completing induction, Early Professional Development is an essential part of continued support and training. All teachers are required to participate in this  two-year programme of competence based professional development and to present evidence of this in an EPD portfolio.

Officers with responsibility for the welfare of staff are employed by the Education Authority and by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS). Further information on the support offered is available from the Department of Education (DE).  

Salaries 

The Department of Education (DE) determines teachers' pay scales in accordance with the provisions of Article 69 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, following negotiations with the Teachers' Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee (Schools).

Salary scales that apply in 2018/19 are published by the DE on its website in Circular 2016/24.

Unqualified teachers are paid at the salary rate of £14,151 (€16,455*).

Qualified teachers are paid on either the main or the upper pay scale.

The main pay scale. Classroom teachers on this pay scale must be paid on one of six points on the scale, which runs from £22,243 (€25,864*) to £32,509 (€37, 801*). Teachers usually start at the base of this scale, but may start higher up if they have relevant teaching or other experience.

The upper pay scale. Classroom teachers on this scale must be paid on one of the three points on the scale, which runs from £35,217 (€40,950*) to £37,870 (€44,035*).

Exchange rate used: €1 = £0.86, ECB, 12 March 2019.

Teachers’ performance must be reviewed annually in accordance with the Performance Review and Staff Development Scheme (2014) and within the context of the school development plan (SDP). The outcome of the annual performance review is recorded in a review statement. Review statements are taken into account by each school’s board of governors which is responsible for conducting an annual review of the salary placement of teachers, including Principals and Vice Principals. During the annual review, a salary assessment is made based on:

• experience,
• teaching allowances,
• recruitment and retention allowances,
• teaching pupils with special educational needs,
• Threshold/Upper Pay Scale progression arrangements, and
• any safeguarded sums.

The Board of Governors must give written notification of their salary placement and how it has been arrived at.

There is no automatic progression, but with satisfactory performance, teachers on the main pay scale can progress one point per year to the maximum of point six. Having completed one year on point six of the main pay scale, classroom teachers can apply for threshold progression to the upper pay scale. With satisfactory performance, a teacher can progress up the upper pay scale by one point every two years, to a maximum of point three.

In addition, several types of allowance are available: 

• Teaching allowances may be paid to classroom teachers undertaking responsibilities beyond those normally expected, for example, leading a subject or curriculum area. 
• Recruitment and retention allowances may be paid where there is a shortage of teachers in a particular subject, or where a post is hard to fill.  
• Special educational needs (SEN) allowances are paid to teachers who are wholly or mainly engaged in teaching certain categories of pupils with SEN. 

The procedures for the award of allowances for teachers are set out on pages 16-18 of the Guidance for Boards of Governors on the Formulation and Implementation of Salary Policy (DE, 2008).

For further information, see the Eurydice publication on Teachers’ and School Heads’ Salaries and Allowances 2015/16.

Working time and holidays 

Teachers’ working time and professional duties are set out in the Teachers’ Terms and Conditions of Employment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987. 

Full-time teachers are required, as part of their conditions of service, to teach for no more than 190 days each year and to be available for staff development or other duties for a further 5 days a year. Within the 195 days, teachers must undertake duties at the direction of the principal for up to 1265 hours per year. This is known as ‘directed time’. The regulations refer only to teaching days. There are no specific references to the time allocated for annual leave / holidays. 

Teachers may not be required to teach (as distinct from supervise) for more than 25 hours a week in primary and special schools, or 23.5 hours a week in post-primary (secondary) schools. Boards of governors are encouraged to allow teachers up to 10% of their teaching workload as timetabled ‘non-contact’ time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA).

Teachers’ duties include planning and preparing courses and lessons; teaching; assessing; communicating and cooperating with a range of stakeholders; providing advice and guidance to pupils; maintaining discipline and order; providing a limited amount of cover for absent colleagues; participating in performance review; maintaining records; attending meetings; and participating in school organisation and administration.

Employing authorities have various arrangements for flexible working. For example, teachers may seek a temporary variation in their contract to allow them to reduce their hours for up to one year (TNC 2009/7), and the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pensions Scheme (NITPS) has provisions for teachers who want to work part-time before retirement. See section on ‘Phased Retirement’ on pages 6-9 of the NITPS Factsheet 4.

Promotion, advancement 

The main and upper pay scales exist to allow for salary progression based on performance and can be accessed by all teachers. Salary scales that apply in 2018/19 are published by the Department of Education (DE) on its website in Circular 2016/24.

Promotion to upper pay scale 

Having completed one year on point six (the top of the main pay scale), teachers can apply for threshold progression to the upper pay scale.  Applications are assessed by the principal (school head).

Payments for additional responsibilities

For the majority of teachers, the most likely progression route is into a management role within a school. School staffing structures vary, but typically promoted posts would involve one or more of the following additional responsibilities which usually attract additional allowances: 

• pastoral responsibilities, including pupil support and guidance and liaison with parents, such as a role as Head of Year in a post-primary school or Head of Key Stage in primary and post-primary schools 
• curriculum responsibility, such as in the role of Curriculum Coordinator (in a primary school), or Head of Department (post-primary)  
• responsibility for whole-school issues such as in the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). 

The procedures for the award of allowances for teachers are set out on pages 16-18 of the Guidance for Boards of Governors on the Formulation and Implementation of Salary Policy (DE, 2008).

Mobility and transfers 

Teachers are not civil servants. They are appointed by the employing authority to an individual institution, and there are no permanent arrangements for staff to be transferred to an alternative institution if their post becomes redundant. The employing authority, where this is the Education Authority (EA) or the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), may operate informal arrangements to assist redeployment if school teachers are made redundant in a particular school, but this is an arrangement based on goodwill alone.

Dismissal 

In accordance with general employment legislation, teachers may be fairly dismissed for a number of reasons, such as:

• their conduct
• their capability to do the job
• if a legal requirement prevents employment being continued
• redundancy.

The correct procedures must be followed. A teacher found guilty of gross misconduct or specific criminal offences may be summarily dismissed without notice or pay in lieu of notice. All employees have legal protection against unfair dismissal after a year of continuous service. This applies irrespective of the number of hours per week that they work.

The school’s disciplinary rules must include procedures for dealing with lack of effectiveness on the part of any member of staff. The main purpose of such procedures should be to encourage an employee whose work is unsatisfactory to improve. However, ultimately, lack of effectiveness may lead to dismissal. Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC) Circular 2013/4 sets out the procedure for supporting effective teaching in schools, which is invoked when a teacher’s performance is giving cause for concern and all informal measures have been exhausted. TNC Circular 2015/12 confirms that, since 1 April 2015, the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) has had the power to consider cases of serious teacher misconduct and, where appropriate, to remove a teacher from its register. 

TNC Circular 2013/1 sets out the procedures for the termination of employment of teachers on the grounds of ill health or capability.

Where the board of governors decides that the contract of anyone employed in the school should be terminated, it must notify the employing authority (where this is not the board of governors) in writing, giving reasons for its decision. For further information about staff dismissal, staff suspension and disciplinary and grievance procedures, see chapter 9 ‘School staff’ of the Department of Education’s Guide to governor roles and responsibilities (2018).

Retirement and pensions 

The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme (NITPS) is a contributory scheme, managed by the Department of Education (DE). The NITPS is a statutory scheme subject to the Teachers’ Superannuation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998. 

For teachers joining the scheme since 1 April 2015, the arrangements are:

• a career average scheme
• Normal Pension Age (NPA) is equal to the State Pension Age (SPA), or 65 where that is higher
• The accrual rate is 1/57th pensionable earnings.

The scheme replaced a final salary public service pension scheme, with the aim of making public services pensions more affordable and sustainable.

Teachers aged 55 or over may take early retirement and claim benefits known as Actuarially Adjusted Benefits (AAB). The adjustment is a reduction of approximately 5% for each year taken early before the Normal Pension age of 65.

Under the Investing in the Teaching Workforce Scheme, teachers in permanent posts who were aged 55 years or above at 30 April 2018 can apply for premature retirement. The aim is to provide job opportunities for teachers who qualified in the years 2013 up to and including 2017 by releasing up to 200 teachers aged 55⁺ in 2018/19. The Scheme will not continue in 2019/20.

The Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011, which took effect in April 2011 removed the national default retirement age of 65. Employers can no longer force employees to retire at a set age.

More detailed information regarding pensions is available on the Pension Scheme pages of the DE website.

Article last reviewed April 2021.