Regulator clears teacher recruitment ad after complaints over £65k salary claim

A Government teacher recruitment ad has been cleared following 140 complaints that its claim of a potential £65,000 salary was a "misrepresentation".

The Department for Education's television ad promoted the Get Into Teaching campaign.

It concluded with a male teacher saying: "And if you're wondering what else a good teacher makes, it's probably more than you think," before on-screen text stated: "£22k to £27k minimum starting salary ... and up to £65k as a great teacher."

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 140 complaints that the £65,000 claim misrepresented the potential salary of teachers.

The Department for Education said on-screen text made it clear that the ability to earn £65,000 was subject to eligibility and location, and believed that "up to £65k as a great teacher" would be understood as an aspirational figure.

The DfE referred to published statistics showing that in November 2014 there were 12,845 teachers who earned £65,000 or more, with 12,360 of these in leadership roles and the remaining 485 working as classroom teachers.

The ASA noted that the ad depicted a number of teachers conducting classes in subjects such as sciences, Chinese and drama, but did not consider that viewers would infer that the salary information represented a pay scale for classroom teachers only.

It said: "We considered that viewers were likely to understand that the salary information represented a pay scale, from starting salary to an aspirational but achievable salary for 'good' or 'great' teachers, including those who had progressed to senior or leadership roles."

It concluded that the ad did not misrepresent the potential salary of teachers and was therefore unlikely to mislead.

National Union of Teachers deputy general secretary Kevin Courtney said: "At one stage we were quite hopeful that the ASA would uphold the complaint made by the NUT's London regional secretary Martin Powell-Davies. Considering the advert's misleading nature, it is therefore quite surprising that they didn't.

"The advert was instantly ridiculed by teachers, and they were right to do so. It is no surprise that the ASA received over 100 complaints. When only one in a thousand classroom teachers earn £65,000, it is obviously ridiculous for the DfE to give the impression that this is a likely salary.

"Rather than attempting to deceive the public about teaching's financial rewards, the DfE needs to be addressing the issues that are having a disastrous effect on the profession.

"Teachers face five more years of 1% headline-pay rises and huge uncertainty because of the chaotic implementation of performance related pay.

"Workload is through the roof, with many hours spent on tasks that have nothing to do with creating exciting lessons."

A DfE spokesman said: "We are pleased the ASA has dismissed the complaint that our efforts to recruit more excellent teachers were misleading. Far from being inaccurate, the ASA has ruled that it is right to say teachers can earn up to £65,000 - as many outstanding individuals do.

"Rather than repeatedly talking down the profession and complaining about initiatives to bring in more top graduates, the NUT should instead be working with us to promote the hugely rewarding career of teaching."