Teachers' pay
The Department of Education is responsible for paying salaries to approximately 22,000 teachers each month. These teachers are employed either on a permanent or temporary basis in over 1,500 grant-aided schools in the Controlled, Maintained and Voluntary sectors throughout Northern Ireland.
Around 17,200 salaries are paid at the end of the month to teachers employed on a permanent basis and around 4,717 are paid in the middle of the month to those teachers who, in the previous month, were employed on a temporary basis.
In the 2022/2023 financial year, in the region of £796m was paid in salaries.
Requirements for permanent posts in grant-aided schools
Teachers who are appointed to permanent posts in grant-aided schools must have the necessary teaching qualifications as approved by the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland and be registered with the Council.
Appointment of teachers to teaching posts in schools
In Northern Ireland, teachers are appointed to posts by the body responsible for the management of the school in which the vacancy has arisen. The Department of Education does not appoint teachers.
Vacancies are advertised online at www.eani.org.uk , www.ccmsschools.com and JobApplyNI . Some posts are also advertised in the Irish News and at times posts may appear in other local and regional newspapers. Often vacancies are advertised in educational journals as well.
Method of Calculation of Additional Days and Hours for Part Time Teachers
This area contains guidance on the correct method of calculation of additional days and hours for part time teachers
Management bodies
The education system in Northern Ireland consists of different types of grant-aided schools under the control of various management bodies, which are also the employers of teachers. The Department of Education does not employ teachers.
Altogether, there are about 1,150 grant-aided schools for which the management bodies are as follows:-
Controlled schools
These consist of nursery, primary, secondary, grammar and special schools, which are under the management of the Education Authority, the contact details of which may be obtained from the types of school page.
Maintained schools
These consist of nursery, primary, secondary and special schools, which are under the management of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools whose address and telephone number can also be found on the types of school page.
Integrated education schools
These consist of primary and secondary schools, which, individually, are under the management of a Board of Governors.
Irish Medium education Schools
These consist of primary and secondary schools, which, individually, are under the management of a Board of Governors.
Names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the voluntary schools in Northern Ireland may be obtained from Schools in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register (NISTR)
The Department of Education, in partnership with employing authorities, support associations and the teacher unions, has established an online regional database of qualified teachers who provide substitute (supply) cover for schools throughout Northern Ireland.
You can register on the NISTR, or find more information about registering by visiting the Northern Ireland Supply Teacher Register (NISTR) website.
TNC 2016/1 - The appropriate use of the Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register (NISTR) and engagement of substitute teachers in all schools
The purpose of this document is to clearly set out for school principals, senior leaders, teachers and boards of governors the purposes for which NISTR should be used, paying particular attention to the circumstances when it is permissible to use NISTR to engage teachers.
You can view our most common questions with regards to teachers salaries, on the common issues page.
Important Change for NISTR Bookings WEF 1 May 2022
Contact
For more information or general queries about teachers' pay contact the Teachers' Pay Team.