School Reps' Handbook > Your questions answered
Notice periods
What are the official resignation dates?
Teachers, including deputy headteachers, are under two months' notice and in the Summer Term, three months' notice, terminating at the end of that school term.
For the purposes of resignation, the three school terms are deemed to be:
- the autumn term i.e. from 1 September to 31 December inclusive;
- the spring term i.e. from 1 January to 30 April inclusive;
- the summer term i.e. from 1 May to 31 August inclusive.
Therefore, teachers giving their notice should observe the following deadlines:
- to leave at 31 December, by no later than 31 October;
- to leave at 30 April, by no later than 28 February;
- to leave at 31 August, by no later than 31 May.
Headteachers are under three months' notice and in the Summer Term, four months' notice, and must, therefore, give their notice one month earlier than the above dates.
What about my pay during the notice period?
When they resign, teachers will be paid up to and including the dates set out, even though the school will finish for the holiday periods earlier than these dates.
A teacher who resigns at the end of the Spring Term, however, to take up another post in a different LEA, will be paid salary up to the day before the new school opens for the Summer Term, if this is earlier than 1 May. If a teacher is resigning at the end of the Spring Term and is not taking up another appointment in the Summer Term, the school could, and probably would, expect the teacher to be available for work up to 30 April, given that the teacher would be paid for the whole of that month.
What if the deadline for notice is missed?
Teachers who give in their notice after these deadlines will not have the automatic right to leave their post until the end of the following term.
Teachers who leave their post without giving the required notice will be in breach of their contract.
In such cases, however, the strict notice requirements can still be waived, with the agreement of the school. The NUT would hope that reasonable consideration would be given to doing so. If members experience difficulties with this you should advise them to contact an Association