Teaching assistants, school administrators, pastoral support staff, technicians, catering staff – these are the people who keep schools running every day. They support children with special educational needs and disabilities, manage school finances, help pupils who are struggling, and make sure the day-to-day life of a school functions. Despite this, their pay and working conditions have, until now, been set in an inconsistent way, varying significantly depending on where they work and who employs them.
The government is changing that. A new body called the School Support Staff Negotiating Body, or SSSNB, is being established to set minimum pay and conditions for school support staff in England.
The government ran a public consultation in July 2025 to shape how the SSSNB will work. More than 2,500 people and organisations responded, including support staff like teaching assistants and school business professionals, together with local authorities, academy trusts, trade unions, and representative organisations which collectively employ or represent thousands of support staff across England. The responses were broadly in favour of the proposals across the board.
Here is what you need to know.
What is the SSSNB?
The SSSNB is a new statutory body created under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Its purpose is to bring employers and employee representatives together to negotiate minimum standards for pay and conditions for school support staff in all state-funded schools in England. It will also advise on training and career progression for school support staff.
Think of it as a formal, national structure for agreeing a pay floor – a minimum standard for eligible support staff’s pay and conditions – with staff able to benefit from more favourable pay and conditions where these are offered.
The body will cover a wide range of school staff, including teaching assistants, school business professionals, administrative staff, technicians, and other non-teaching staff up to and including middle leadership roles. It applies to staff directly employed by local authorities, school governing bodies, and academy trusts in England.
Who does it cover?
The government’s consultation included asking for views on who should be covered by the new body. The government has confirmed in its response that SSSNB will cover directly employed support staff, most who are not teachers, working in maintained schools and academies. This includes staff who work for academy trusts from locations away from a school site, for example, administrative or finance staff based at a trust's central office. The responses to the consultation showed very strong support for this approach, with nearly 92% of respondents agreeing that those off-site employees should be included, to avoid creating different standards for staff doing similar work in different locations.
Senior leaders with strategic responsibilities, such as executive leaders and finance directors who oversee whole organisations, will not be included, as their roles are considered different from operational support roles.
Why is this happening now?
At the moment, pay and conditions for school support staff vary considerably across the country. How much someone earns, and on what terms, can depend on which school or trust they work for, which part of England they are in, and which historical agreements their employer has inherited. This can mean two people doing similar jobs in neighbouring schools are on quite different terms.
What will the SSSNB do first?
Once the SSSNB is established, it will negotiate the next annual pay award uplift for school support staff.
The first working condition the SSSNB will negotiate on is maternity pay. This will be the first national improvement to maternity provision for school support staff in 25 years. The government has confirmed this as the priority, in recognition of the predominantly female workforce and the long-standing gap between the maternity entitlements available to teachers and those available to support staff.
When will the changes take effect?
School support staff will continue under their existing arrangements for the 2026-27 financial year.
Formal establishment of the SSSNB is planned for Autumn 2026.
Employers do not need to take immediate action. The government will provide further information and guidance in the autumn term to help employers understand which staff are covered. The establishment of the SSSNB will not in itself replace existing grading structures, pay spines or progression mechanisms.
The first improvements to support staff contracts resulting from SSSNB negotiations, including on overall pay, are expected to come into effect from the 2027-28 financial year at the earliest.
Will the SSSNB resolve grievances or disputes?
The SSSNB is not a disputes body and will not deal with individual grievances or workplace issues. It will not replace local management of staff and schools and employers will continue to manage their workforces day to day. Individuals should continue to raise any grievances or issues through normal channels.