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Hills Road reacts to sixth form college pay grant omission

Reacting to the news that Sixth Form Colleges have been excluded from a new pay deal for teachers, the Hills community is rallying together for a fairer outcome.

Published on 18/10/2024

Hills Road Sixth Form College has been engaging with local MPs over the exclusion of Sixth Form College teachers from the new government’s pay deal for teachers.

While schools serving 11-18 year old pupils and 16-19 academies (many of which are former sixth form colleges) will receive an additional 3.65% in funding to meet the government’s commitment to a 5.5% pay rise for teachers, no such funding has been given to Sixth Form Colleges.

This means that Sixth Form Colleges, like Hills Road, are put in an impossible position. Having received a funding uplift of just 1.89% for the coming year, trying to match a 5.5% pay rise for staff becomes impossible.

Funding uplift denied

The government's additional funding confirmation provides much-needed support for schools and academies; but sixth form colleges like Hills Road have been overlooked or omitted. 

The top-up pay grant of 3.65% to all schools and academies (including 16-19 academies) excludes sixth form colleges, of which Hills Road is one of 43, meaning that staff in these Colleges are not going to receive the public sector pay award that will be coming to teachers in all other types of school setting.

An "insurmountable" hole

As a result, Hills Road would be subject to what Principal Jo Trump referred to as an "insurmountable" budget hole if it were to try and make good on the government’s promise to teachers without any money to do so.

Backed by the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), Hills Road is therefore urging the Secretary of State for Education to reconsider.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Education, the Chair of SFCA describes the exclusion:

There is an obvious .. inequity and lack of logic in providing the additional funding to sixth form colleges which have become 16-19 academies, while denying it to the 43 institutions that remain designated sixth form colleges [even though] teachers in these institutions are paid the same rates of pay on the same national pay scales.
Emma Young, SFCA Chair

Support from MPs

The College is urging  local Members of Parliament to support us in this matter, so that we can continue to provide an education of distinction for young people in the area.

MP for  South Cambridgeshire, Pippa Heylings, visited the College at the end of September. Principal Jo Trump met with Ms. Heylings  in order to discuss the issue and seek support.

Recently re-elected MP for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, also recognised the extent of the shortfall for Sixth Form Colleges during a meeting with the College on Friday 4 October.

Ian Sollom, MP for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire and the Lib Dem Spokesperson for Universities and Skills, visited the College in November to discuss the shortfall with Principal Jo Trump.