Bridget Phillipson has backed a teacher pay raise in England that starts with 3.5% from September, followed by a further 3% next year. The Department for Education says the deal follows the School Teachers’ Review Body recommendations and will be partly funded from state-school budgets.
The review body recommended the equivalent of 6.6% over two years, while the government says the package gives schools and colleges certainty over pay and budgets. Support staff were offered a 3.3% rise back-dated to April, keeping the award package tied to the same funding settlement.
School Teachers’ Review Body
Phillipson said: “This multi-year deal, backed by significant additional investment, shows the immense value we place in our teachers, while giving schools and colleges certainty over pay and their budgets.” The Department for Education said state schools would receive an extra £1.8bn over two years to help pay for teachers and support staff.
The figures also set out what teachers can expect over time. The average school teacher salary would rise to more than £52,800 from September and to more than £54,400 from September 2027, while the Department for Education said school teachers would have a cumulative 17% pay increase since the last election.
National Education Union
Daniel Kebede said: “Schools are being asked to find £460m from budgets already at breaking point. This is the equivalent of 8,300 school staff – 3,900 teachers and 4,400 support staff. Ministers cannot claim to want more teachers while overseeing such a drastic reduction in numbers next year.” The National Education Union said schools must still fund nearly a third of the wage increases from existing budgets.
In May, the union voted to hold a strike ballot in the autumn unless the government committed to a fully funded, above-inflation pay award. It is now considering its options over industrial action while the funding split remains the main pressure point for schools.
Department for Education
The Department for Education also said colleges and other further education providers will get an extra £485m over two years for staff retention. David Hughes said: “We had feared that we were heading towards a potentially very low or even zero pay award recommendation. It shows that the government has been listening to the case we made as a sector and recognises that its funding decisions are critical for ensuring colleges can address the cost of living crisis their staff face.”
For school leaders, the deal means the pay award is in place, but not fully insulated from existing budgets. The unresolved issue is how far school budgets can absorb the £460m shortfall without cutting staff numbers, and that question now sits with the people who will have to make the sums work from September.
