15 July 2026
School support staff pay – Government response to consultation
The UK Government has published its response to the consultation on the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB). It covers which staff the body will consider pay for, approach to existing terms and conditions, and agency working in England.
The SSSNB will be a dedicated national body to negotiate pay and conditions, as well as advise on training and career progression. Careers staff working in schools in England are included in the definition of support staff.
With regards to the definition of school support staff – and thereby who the Negotiating Body’s pay standards apply to – the Government will include directly employed staff other than teachers, expect where they are already covered by national pay bodies. This will include academy trust employees wherever they work but exclude executive leaders and senior non-teaching staff.
The SSSNB will set out minimum statutory terms and conditions, so any staff on terms less favourable will need to be uplifted. However, schools will retain the flexibility to offer terms at levels above those set as a minimum. Any staff on more favourable terms will retain them rather than reduce to the minimum.
Agency workers will fall outside the scope of the SSSNB given limited evidence provided during the consultation, though this could change in future.
The SSSNB will require secondary legislation to establish these parameters. It is expected that the first improved contracts from the SSSNB standards will apply from the 2027-28 financial year ‘at the earliest’.
Read more about the update on the SSSNB.
The SSSNB will be a dedicated national body to negotiate pay and conditions, as well as advise on training and career progression. Careers staff working in schools in England are included in the definition of support staff.
With regards to the definition of school support staff – and thereby who the Negotiating Body’s pay standards apply to – the Government will include directly employed staff other than teachers, expect where they are already covered by national pay bodies. This will include academy trust employees wherever they work but exclude executive leaders and senior non-teaching staff.
The SSSNB will set out minimum statutory terms and conditions, so any staff on terms less favourable will need to be uplifted. However, schools will retain the flexibility to offer terms at levels above those set as a minimum. Any staff on more favourable terms will retain them rather than reduce to the minimum.
Agency workers will fall outside the scope of the SSSNB given limited evidence provided during the consultation, though this could change in future.
The SSSNB will require secondary legislation to establish these parameters. It is expected that the first improved contracts from the SSSNB standards will apply from the 2027-28 financial year ‘at the earliest’.
Read more about the update on the SSSNB.
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