Members have seen their pay levels drift to a staggering £9k below that of schoolteachers and their counterparts in Sixth Form Colleges.
NEU has reached agreement with the other further education trade unions (GMB, UCU, Unite and Unison) on this year's joint Further Education (FE) trade unions' pay claim (2026/27) and it has been submitted to the Association of Colleges (AoC).
The joint union pay claim seeks a pay increase of 10% or £3,000, whichever is the greater, and the following key demands:
The joint further education trade unions (GMB, NEU, UCU, Unite and Unison) and the Association of Colleges (AoC) met via the National Joint Forum (NJF) process on 17 September to negotiate a pay recommendation for 2025/26, following the failure of the AoC to make a pay recommendation on 16 June.
The AoC recommended that colleges should make a pay award of 4% for 2025/26 for all staff, 'where their financial circumstances and funding allocations allow them to do so'.
Numerous colleges do not follow the AoC recommendation, which is non-binding and in practice, NEU members should contact their local rep for further information on the local pay bargaining cycle.
The AoC made no firm commitments in respect of the remainder of the joint claim, underpinning the need for binding national bargaining funded by the government.
Responding in a joint statement, the unions commented that 'it's another disappointing outcome to a very unsatisfactory process.'
The joint union pay claim seeks a pay increase of 10% or £3,000, whichever is the greater, and the following:
