London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 21, 2025

Teachers, police officers, nurses: What pay rise are they getting?

Teachers, police officers, nurses: What pay rise are they getting?

The government could be on a collision course with millions of public sector workers after announcing this year's pay awards.

Pay deals covering 2.5 million workers, including teachers and NHS staff in England, and police in England and Wales, have been published.

Unions attacked the deals, saying they amounted to real-terms cuts that do not reflect the rising cost of living.

So who has been given what?


Teachers

Schools in England could find themselves caught up in industrial action after the biggest education union said it would ballot teachers.

Pay for most teachers in England will rise by 5% from September this year, an increase from the initial offer of 3% for 2022-23.

Teachers with more than five years experience will get £2,100 on the average salary of £42,400.

For teachers in the first years of their career the increase is bigger - 8.9% - but only because of a long-standing promise to raise the starting salary to £30,000 in England by September 2023.

This was a promise made long before the current cost-of-living crisis.

All of this has to be paid for by schools out of existing budgets. Schools in England are getting more cash, but after a long squeeze on their budgets many are worried about other cost pressures, such as rising energy bills.

The National Education Union has said it will ballot teachers over the 5% pay award, raising the prospect of industrial action in schools later this year.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the union, said the "biggest real-terms pay cut in a generation" left them with no choice but to seek the views of teachers.

The other main teaching union, NASUWT, said it was dismayed and would consider how to respond. The last national dispute over teachers' pay was in 2008.


Doctors, nurses and NHS staff

It looks unlikely that the pay award for NHS will be enough for staff - their unions had been looking for above-inflation rises. The Royal College of Nursing asked for 5% above inflation, which at the time of asking equated to a 12.5% hike.

It responded immediately, warning the government was making a "grave misstep" and it would be consulting its members.

Meanwhile, the joint group of NHS unions, which represent other staff including midwives, physios and porters, said a pay award like this would be "nowhere near enough".

The British Medical Association has yet to respond, but has already warned it was preparing to ballot junior doctors if more significant pay rises were not made.

As they agreed a four-year pay deal in 2019 when inflation was much lower, they are only entitled to just over 2% this year - not the 4.5% more senior doctors will receive.


But beyond the threat of industrial action there is another problem for ministers.

The NHS budget was settled on the expectation that staff would only get 3% and therefore this award would add nearly £2bn extra to the costs the health service faces.

Managers are warning that unless that is covered by the Treasury, services will have to be cut.


Police and prison staff

With the government committed to employing thousands more police and prison officers, the real-terms pay cut for public sector workers in the criminal justice system will make those ambitions more challenging.

Police officers are to receive a £1,900 salary uplift - equivalent to a 5% overall pay award.

For new recruits, the increase is worth 8.8%, and ministers will be hoping that is enough to attract the 8,000 extra officers they are planning for this financial year.

For some more senior staff, the award is worth less than 1%.

Prison staff are to receive a base pay increase of at least 4%, but as with the police, new recruits will get more, around £2,500 extra. There is a plan to recruit an additional 5,000 prison officers in the next two years.

The courts system is under huge pressure at the moment, but Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has agreed only to increase the pay of judicial office holders by 3%.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics hours before the pay awards were announced show record levels of vacancies in public administration - 39,000 empty jobs in a sector which includes police and prison officers, as well as courts staff.

Competition for recruitment will be intense.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
×