The pay cuts drive the recruitment and retention crisis and undermine the quality and stability of education.
Key facts
- Teacher pay has fallen by 23% against RPI inflation since 2010.
- Pay cuts for teachers have been deeper than for most other graduate professions, widening pay gaps with the wider economy.
- The competitiveness of teacher pay has deteriorated to its lowest level since at least 1945.
- Real-terms cuts, excessive workload and unfair performance-related pay are major reasons why teachers consider leaving the profession.
- Unfair blocks to pay progression have restricted career opportunities, especially onto and on the Upper Pay Range.
Key statistics
- Teacher pay increases have been below RPI in twelve of the sixteen years from 2010 to 2025.
- A teacher who started work in 2010 and progressed typically up the scale has lost almost £109,000 in real terms so far in their career.
- 64% of teachers feel underpaid given their responsibilities and workload.
- 68% of teachers have considered leaving because of low pay or unfair performance-related pay.
- Average teacher pay used to be more than 50% higher than average earnings; it is now around 35%.
- Since 2010, real-terms earnings growth across the economy is 15% higher than for experienced teachers.
- A teacher in England (outside London and the fringe) with six years’ experience earns £7,262 less than an equivalent teacher in Scotland.
- The differential between the starting salary (M1) and the top of the upper pay range (U3) has fallen from around 70% in 2010 to around 55% in 2025-26.
Campaign asks
- We need the Government to change its political choice to attack teacher pay and instead deliver on the promise of change it made when it was elected in 2024.
- Instead of pay cuts and more teacher shortages we need fully funded, above inflation pay awards to properly value, recruit and retain the teachers our education service needs.
- Ensure teacher pay is competitive with other graduate professions so that schools can recruit and retain the teachers they need.
- Restore the value of pay progression so that experience and expertise are properly recognised across the pay structure.
- End punitive and divisive performance-related pay and replace it with fair, transparent national pay frameworks.
- Fund any pay increases through additional government investment, not cuts to school budgets.