Head teachers warn pay publicity could backfire

The National Association of Head Teachers' general secretary Russell Hobby has dismissed the Government's new plan to allow parents to access information about teaching staff's pay, qualifications and sickness records.

The Department for Education has announced that it plans to make more information about teachers available.

The information, which will be broken down at either school or local authority level, will also show how many children received the new pupil premium – funding being diverted from education budgets to those schools who have the poorest children.

Mr Hobby said: "The Government's plan to publish the salaries and sickness levels of school staff captures attention at the expense of results: a largely pointless endeavour with minimal impact on standards. It might, however, increase pay inflation in the public sector.

"Will parents seek to send their children to a school with high or low paid teachers? It is perfectly right that the public should know how much is being spent on education and whether they are getting value for money. We should not, however, pretend that the measures announced will have any impact on standards through parental choice."

Ministers say the extra information will help parents to choose a school for their child.