Teachers' pay in England
The school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD) for 2025/2026 has been published. The Government has fully accepted all recommendations in the STRB report, including a 4% pay increase to all school teacher pay points and allowances in England, effective from 1 September 2025. Read the joint union advice on school teachers' pay in England for the school year 2025-26.
Reps and officers should focus on four key demands during pay policy negotiations this autumn:
- The implementation of the four per cent pay increase to all pay points and allowances.
- Adoption of the pay scales recommended in the Joint union pay advice 2025-26.
- Removal of performance-related pay (PRP) at all levels if this hasn’t happened already.
- Award of the full value of teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments to part-time teachers undertaking the whole responsibility associated with the TLR.
This model letter can be used as part of a rep engagement with the school and can be customised as appropriate.
The STPCD also includes important updates on flexible working. We want to ensure that schools implement meaningful improvements on these issues, which have significant potential to improve the working lives of members, especially women.
We are working on updates to the NEU pay advice materials, including the pay bargaining toolkit, but it remains valid and can be used to inform negotiations at the school level. Reps are encouraged to press their schools on the core asks above and to share success stories.
Read the NEU response and the joint education unions' response to the STRB consultation. With recruitment and retention problems at critical levels, driven by pay that is too low and workload that is too high, the Government must provide the additional investment needed to fully fund the teacher and school leader pay increase.
NEU pay claim and joint union statement to the STRB
An NEU pay claim and a separate joint statement have been sent as evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) in England.
The NEU pay claim calls for
- Urgent, significant and fully funded movement towards a complete reversal of the real terms pay cuts against inflation since 2010.
- Reform of the pay structure, to provide a fair national pay structure with appropriate levels of pay and progression and no element of PRP.
- Effective and fully funded action to tackle excessive workload.
The NEU is clear that the onus is now on the Government to engage with the unions in direct negotiations to secure these objectives, which are fully justified by the evidence and are in the interests of pupils and parents as well as of teachers themselves.
The joint union statement to the STRB also calls for urgent, significant and fully funded movement towards a complete reversal of the real terms pay cuts since 2010. The joint union statement underlines the consensus in the profession on the need for the Government to repair the damage to teacher pay and workload by investing properly in our teachers and school leaders.
NEU supplementary evidence to STRB and NEU Pay and Progression Survey
The NEU has sent supplementary evidence to the STRB, responding to the Government’s position on teacher pay as set out in its evidence to the STRB last month.
The NEU supplementary evidence exposes the isolation of the Government on teacher pay and the damage its proposed pay increase of 6.5% spread over three years will do to teacher living standards, recruitment and retention. We set out the reality faced by teachers and our education system on teacher pay, workload, recruitment and retention, and school funding. We show how the Government’s proposed 6.5% pay increase spread over three years would mean more real terms pay cuts against inflation and more damage to the value of teacher pay against pay in the wider economy.
We have also sent as part of our supplementary evidence a report of the latest NEU Teacher Pay and Progression Survey. The findings from the survey underline the need for an urgent and fully funded pay correction.
- Almost three-quarters of teachers said that their current pay is less or significantly less than they would expect, given their role, responsibilities and workload.
- A majority of teachers have thought about leaving the profession because of low pay. Including dissatisfaction with performance-related pay, two thirds of teachers have considered leaving the profession due to pay-related issues.
- The threshold between the Main and Upper Pay Ranges remains a significant barrier to progression.
- Inconsistent and undervalued TLR payments remain a source of contention.
- There are significant equalities issues – for example, male teachers are more likely to receive TLRs, more likely to receive the highest TLR 1 banding and also receive higher median TLR levels within most phase and TLR bands than female counterparts.
STRB oral evidence session
On 1st December, an NEU delegation including serving teachers gave powerful oral evidence to the STRB. The NEU delegation gave examples from the real lived experience of teachers to support our case for a fully funded pay correction and significant improvements in workload.
We underlined the inadequacy of the Government’s proposed 6.5% pay increase spread over three years, and how this will amount to yet more real terms pay cuts.
We highlighted the severe impact on already critical workload problems of any move to loosen the rules around directed time.
We left the STRB in no doubt that without additional investment to fund the improvements needed to teacher pay and conditions, the recruitment and retention crisis will continue.