Teachers in England have voted to accept a five-point-five percent pay rise for the 2024-25 academic year. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has initiated the next pay round for 2025-26 and emphasized the need to improve teacher recruitment and retention through flexible working arrangements. The general secretaries of the National Education Union and the Association of School and College Leaders have both stressed the importance of additional funding and further pay corrections to tackle teacher shortages.
Teachers in England have voted overwhelmingly to accept a 5.5% pay rise for the 2024-25 academic year, following a National Education Union (NEU) snap poll in which 95% of respondents approved the offer.
This pay rise accompanies an additional one billion two hundred million pounds allocated to schools to cover the costs.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has initiated the next pay round for 2025-26, asking the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) for their recommendations promptly to ensure timely budget setting for school leaders.
Phillipson has also instructed the STRB to consider how the pay framework could support more flexible working arrangements to improve teacher recruitment and retention.
Additionally, she committed to providing more detailed equality, diversity, and inclusion data regarding teachers' pay and progression.
The government's challenging financial context, including twenty-two billion pounds of broader funding pressures, will influence future pay and funding decisions.
The NEU general secretary, Daniel Kebede, emphasized the need for further pay corrections to make teaching more competitive.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, stressed the importance of adequate funding for both school and college staff to address teacher shortages in the upcoming autumn budget.