Over the years, members of the various supply staff groups I am a member of, have flagged up various job advertisements which have appeared (like the one above) and have complained about how low the pay was and how shocking it is, that supply staff are paid so much less than full-time employed members of staff. And that has always been where it has ended: some shock and some comments, but little else. In recent weeks and months, however, I decided it was time to try and do a little more about these appalling advertisements and actually try to affect a small amount of change. So when I have seen adverts like the one above, looking for a year 5 teacher with at least 2 years experience, and the pay scale is £85 (£16.6k a year) to £110 (£21.5k: M1 is currently £27k), I have been reposting them on Twitter for the wider world and on LinkedIn, to shame the company in front of their corporate mates.

I’m not sure if this was the reason that the BBC started contacting supply groups and I ended up being interviewed on the BBC News channel, but I’m sure it helped.

When I highlighted very low pay from Randstad:

Posting the advert on LinkedIn got an immediate response from the company itself:

They try to defend the indefensible, but in so doing make themselves out to be the company of dubious morals that they are. I am sure that some supply teachers still consider that the agencies are wonderful for teachers, providing a valuable service. But just think back to that first advert, looking for an experienced year 5 teacher for an annual salary of between £16k and £21k. Where does the rest of the money go? Maybe it goes here:

Or maybe it just goes here:

Alistair Cox, CEO of Hays, get a salary of £738k a year but total compensation (mix of shares and pension etc.) of £3million a year. Now, as they are a PLC, I can get hold of his salary details, even if they are 2 years out of date. However, the majority of supply agencies are private limited companies and the salary of their CEOs are private and always will be.

We need to have one simple campaign: to bring supply staff back in-house, run by either the government or the local authorities, just as they are in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle Of Man. There is an urgent need for supply teachers to be paid the same as every other teacher and the supply agencies to stop making profits out of the education system: forever.