FE Pay Recommendation 2024/25
The joint further education trade unions met again with the Association of Colleges (AoC) under the National Joint Forum (NJF) agreement on Monday 7 October to negotiate a pay recommendation for 2024/25 from the employer body (recommendations are non-binding on member colleges), after the AoC failed to make a recommendation in May.
The joint union claim sought a pay increase of 10% or £3,000, whichever is the greater, and the following:
- A demand to close the pay gap between further education and schools within three years;
- A minimum starting salary of £30,000 for lecturers;
- Talks on the introduction of standardised pay scales;
- A set of agreed workload and wellbeing protocols;
- Binding outcomes for national bargaining.
See the pay claim for 2024/2025.
Disappointingly, the AoC made a pay recommendation of just 2.5% or £750, whichever is greater. Their rationale for such a low offer was the lack of comparable funding as has been offered to the school sector.
The absence of any mechanism for even this substandard offer to be implemented across all colleges demonstrates the need for binding sectoral bargaining and ringfenced governmental funding for pay to close the pay gaps with schools.
Talks are set to continue between the AoC and the joint unions on both of these matters, with potential joint lobbying of government set to take place.
The joint unions have agreed to the following statement about this disappointing offer that will make little difference to staff working in FE, who have in recent years endured low pay awards during a period of increasing and locked-inflation.