Each year on 1 July, most public-school educators move up one notch on their salary scale. That notch is worth at least 1% of your salary, and it comes on top of the annual cost-of-living increase. The two are not the same thing, and that confuses a lot of teachers.
TL;DR: Pay progression moves you up one salary notch (at least 1%) every 1 July if your performance is rated satisfactory under the QMS. It is separate from the annual cost-of-living adjustment and separate again from grade progression. Two teachers on the same post level can earn different amounts because they sit on different notches.
This post explains how the notch system works, where the 1% comes from, how performance and the QMS feed into it, and why your colleague down the hall on the same post level might take home more than you.
The salary scale is built from notches, not one flat number
Your post level is not a single salary. It is a range, and that range is divided into many small steps called notches. A post level 1 educator (PL1, the classroom-teacher level) sits somewhere on the PL1 range. A deputy principal sits on the PL3 range. Each notch has a code, and the gap between most notches is about 1%.
The salary scales and the notch codes are set out in the Personnel Administrative Measures, known as the PAM. The PAM is the rulebook the Minister of Basic Education issues for educator employment and pay (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022). It lists the post levels, the qualification requirements, and the notch each starting salary lands on.
So when you ask "what do teachers earn," the honest answer is: it depends on the notch. Two PL1 teachers in the same school are both on the same post level, but one might be five or ten notches higher than the other. That is normal, and it is the whole point of progression.
Pay progression: one notch up on 1 July
Pay progression is the yearly step up the notch ladder. The rule is short and clear in the PAM:
One notch progression (at least 1%) on 1 July of each year.
This comes from ELRC Collective Agreement 4 of 2009, which set the current progression system from 1 July 2010 (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022). The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) is the bargaining council where the education unions, including NAPTOSA, and the employer negotiate these rules (Collective Agreements, ELRC, 2026).
Citation capsule.: Under the PAM (clause B.9.1.1.1) and ELRC Collective Agreement 4 of 2009, qualifying South African public-school educators receive one salary-notch pay progression worth at least 1% on 1 July each year, subject to satisfactory performance, separate from the annual PSCBC cost-of-living adjustment.
A few important points sit inside that simple rule:
- It happens on 1 July, not 1 April. The cost-of-living increase lands on 1 April. Progression lands on 1 July. They are three months apart.
- It is at least 1%. On a handful of notch codes the gap between two steps is less than 1%, so the PAM tells qualifying educators on those codes to skip a step and move up two notches instead, to keep the increase at the 1% floor (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022).
- New educators must serve a qualifying period first. After completing a 24-month employment period, an eligible first-year educator qualifies for pay progression annually (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022), under PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2012.
Pay progression is not the cost-of-living increase
This is the part most teachers mix up. Every year the unions and government negotiate a cost-of-living adjustment at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). That adjustment lifts the whole salary table for everyone. Pay progression is different: it moves you, individually, one notch higher on that table.
For the 2026/27 year, the agreed cost-of-living adjustment is 4%, effective 1 April 2026, under PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2025 (Minister announces 4% wage increase for public servants, SAnews, 2026). That 4% is separate from your 1 July notch step. A qualifying educator can receive both in the same year: the 4% in April, then the notch progression in July.
Where performance and the QMS come in
Pay progression is not automatic in the sense of "you breathe, you get it." It depends on a satisfactory performance rating.
Performance for school-based educators is now measured through the Quality Management System (QMS). The QMS replaced the older Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS). It was meant to start on 1 January 2021, with full rollout to the rest of educators from 1 January 2022 after QMS training (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022). It is governed by ELRC Collective Agreement 2 of 2020 (QMS appraisals, Department of Basic Education, 2026).
The PAM is explicit that the QMS exists in part to feed pay decisions. One of its stated purposes is "to provide a basis for paying salary progression, rewards and other incentives" (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022). The underlying authority for measuring educator performance traces back to Schedule I of the Employment of Educators Act, where the Minister must set the performance standards (Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998, ELRC, 1998).
In practice, if your QMS assessment for the cycle is satisfactory, you qualify for the 1 July notch. If your performance is rated as needing improvement or unsatisfactory, progression can be withheld until the rating is sorted out. That is exactly the kind of dispute where a union representative matters.
A note on development versus pay
When the IQMS was streamlined into the QMS, one agreed principle was to separate appraisal for development from appraisal for pay (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022). The idea is that the conversation about growing as a teacher should not be tangled up with the conversation about your salary notch. In day-to-day school life the same evidence often feeds both, but the principle is there to protect teachers from being penalised on pay for honest development goals.
Grade progression: a different ladder
Pay progression moves you up within your own post level. Grade progression is a separate mechanism that recognises long experience and good performance with a step up, and it follows its own rules in the PAM (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022).
Keep three things apart in your head:
- Pay progression — one notch up each 1 July, at least 1%, with a satisfactory rating.
- Grade progression — a further recognition for sustained experience and good performance, on its own timetable.
- Promotion — applying for and being appointed to a higher post (for example, PL1 to PL2 head of department, or PL2 to PL3 deputy principal). A promotion is a new appointment, not progression.
Promotion changes your post level. Progression and grade progression move you along the scale without changing your post.
Why two teachers on the same post level earn differently
Put it all together and the answer is straightforward. Two PL1 educators can earn different salaries because:
- They started on different notches. A teacher with a higher qualification (a higher REQV) or with recognised prior experience starts further up the PL1 range. The PAM sets the starting notch by qualification and experience (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022).
- They have banked different numbers of 1 July notches. A teacher with fifteen years of satisfactory service has climbed many more notches than one in year three.
- One may have had progression withheld in a year where performance was not rated satisfactory, or in an early year before the 24-month qualifying period was complete.
- One may have received grade progression that the other has not yet earned.
None of this means anyone is being underpaid. It means the scale is doing exactly what it is designed to do: rewarding qualifications, experience, and sustained satisfactory performance over a career.
What to check on your own payslip
Two quick checks each year:
- After 1 April, confirm the cost-of-living adjustment landed (4% for 2026/27).
- After 1 July, confirm your notch moved up. If it did not, and your QMS rating was satisfactory, raise it. A missed notch compounds, because every future increase is calculated off a lower base.
If a notch is missing, or progression was withheld and you believe your performance was satisfactory, do not let it sit. The longer it runs, the harder the back-pay calculation becomes.
FAQ
How much is one notch worth in pay progression?
At least 1% of your salary. Most notch steps are about 1% apart, and where a step happens to be smaller the PAM moves qualifying educators up two notches to keep the increase at the 1% floor (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022).
Is pay progression the same as the annual salary increase?
No. The cost-of-living adjustment lifts the entire salary table for everyone on 1 April. Pay progression moves you, individually, one notch higher on 1 July. You can receive both in the same year.
Do I get pay progression automatically every year?
No. You need a satisfactory performance rating under the QMS, and new educators must first complete a 24-month qualifying period before they progress annually (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022).
What is the difference between pay progression and grade progression?
Pay progression is the routine 1 July notch step within your post level. Grade progression is a separate recognition for sustained experience and good performance, with its own requirements set out in the PAM (Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2022, 2022).
My notch did not move on 1 July. What should I do?
Check your QMS rating for the cycle and your service period. If your rating was satisfactory and you were eligible, the notch should have moved. Raise it with your school management and your union representative, because a missed notch lowers the base for every future increase.
Need help with this? NAPTOSA members can get advice and representation. Contact the Western Cape office or join NAPTOSA.