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Pay in further education

Members have seen their pay levels drift to a staggering £9k below that of schoolteachers and their counterparts in Sixth Form Colleges.

FE Pay Claim 2025/26

In April 2025, the joint further education trade unions (GMB, NEU, UCU Unite and Unison) reached agreement on the joint union pay claim (2025/26) and it has been submitted to the Association of Colleges (AoC). The first National Joint Forum (NJF) to negotiate a pay recommendation will take place on 16 June.

The joint union claim seeks a pay increase of 10% or £3,000, whichever is the greater, and the following:

  • Action to close the pay gap between further education and schools within three years;
  • A minimum starting salary for lecturers identical to that of schoolteachers pay;
  • All colleges to become Living Wage Foundation employers;
  • Talks on the introduction of standardised pay scales;
  • Joint work with a commitment to close gender, ethnic and disability pay gaps;
  • Meaningful action on workload, including a set of agreed workload and wellbeing protocols;
  • Binding outcomes for national bargaining through a national pay agreement.

Read details of the pay claim below:

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