Membership FAQ

It’s completely free for students and trainees on Initial Teacher Training courses (ITT) to join the NEU, whether you’re at university or doing a school-based course such as School Direct or Teach First. Your course must lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) to qualify for the free offer. Simply complete the short online join form to become a member today.

In your first year of induction (as an ECT or NQT) after qualifying, NEU membership will cost you only £1. Whether you’re an existing student member or you’re new to the union, you’ll need to complete the same form in order to access the £1 offer.

Yes. The NEU represents members in both the maintained early years sector and in the private and voluntary sector. As well as offering representation, advice, support, and benefits such as CPD, the NEU also provides an early years forum and to support members with networking, organising, and peer-support. Find out how to get more involved at neu.org.uk/EYWhatsApp

Which membership type you are depends on your role and where you work.

The majority of members working in Early Years fall into the NEU support membership category. This will be the right membership type for you if you are an early years practitioner, a nursery nurse, room lead/manager, a midday supervisor, or a play supervisor. If you’re a teacher in an early years setting in the PVI sector, you will also be considered eligible for the support membership type.

If you work as a qualified teacher in a maintained nursery, children’s centre, or a reception class in a school, NEU standard membership will be the appropriate membership type for you.

If you are the head teacher of a nursery school, you would be in the NEU leader membership category.

If you’re uncertain of which membership type is appropriate for you or if you are having any difficulty completing the online form, please contact the membership team on 0345 811 8111 or at [email protected].

Yes. The NEU is committed to supporting members on supply and agency contracts. Find out more about the NEU’s charter for supply teachers here.

When you join, we will ask you how many hours you work or anticipate working to identify the correct subscription rate for you. See the NEU full time and part time definitions.

Please contact the membership team at [email protected] or 0345 811 8111, Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm, if your working hours change or if you stop working.

Yes. If you’re an existing member who has been working as support staff and you’re now starting a teacher training course leading to Qualified Teacher Status, you are entitled to the free student membership offer while you’re studying. You do not need to cancel your membership. Simply email [email protected] or call the membership team on 0345 811 8111, Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm, and let them know that you are starting a teacher training course.

Yes. The NEU is the union for all education professionals, including leaders and middle leaders. As a leadership member, as well as all the usual benefits of NEU membership, you will also receive Lead magazine, specialist CPD, and access to our online community for leaders to share ideas, support each other, and to network. Find out more about what the NEU has to offer Leadership members here.

The NEU is unable to offer membership to anyone working in Scotland. It is important to be a member of a trade union. If you work in Scotland you may wish to join the EIS or the appropriate support staff union.

If you live in Scotland but work in a school or college in England, you may join the NEU.

It’s important that you keep your details up to date. Please inform the union if your hours have changed, or if you’ve moved house or workplace. myNEU is the quickest and simplest way to let us know about changes to your personal or workplace details. You can also use myNEUto update your equality monitoring information.

Alternatively call the membership team on [email protected] or 0345 811 8111, Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm.

National Education Union subscription rates for working members are based upon a member’s role and the hours they work. A National Education Union member’s role determines their membership type, which can be Leadership, Standard (teacher or lecturer) or Support. 

The NEU reviews its membership subscription rates on annual basis. The rates are agreed by the NEU Executive Committee.

All working members pay an annual national subscription and a local subscription set by their local district.

A portion of your NEU membership subscription is set by your local district to be spent on campaigns and activities which matter most to NEU members where you work and live.

Each local district will set and collect a local subscription of between 5% and 20% of your national subscription rate As an NEU member you elect your district officers, and you are encouraged to attend the meetings of your district where decisions such as the setting and spending of your local subscription are made.

The local subscription will not be collected in your first year of membership if you are a new member or if you have been out of union membership for 36 months or longer.

If you want to get more involved in your local union and help decide on local priorities, or to find out how much your local fee is, please get in touch with your local district officers.

NEU membership years run from 1 September to 31 August. This mirrors the academic year, in line with the working patterns of the majority of our members.

Members who are on Maternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave, or Adoption Leave do not have to pay membership fees for the duration of the period of leave up to a maximum of 18 months.

If you are going on Maternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave, or Adoption leave, simply let the NEU know the anticipated start and end dates of your leave. The simplest way to do this is by updating your details on myNEU. Once you have logged in, go to the workplace tab, click the change hours button, and fill in your anticipated dates under paid leave.

Please note, we are unable to backdate requests for previous subscription years.

If you have any difficulty accessing myNEU, you can also tell us your leave dates by emailing [email protected] or calling 0345 811 8111.

If you are retiring, you can still enjoy the benefits of NEU membership by becoming a retired member. Retired membership costs £20 per year. As a retired member you will be eligible for representation and legal support in relation to issues arising from your employment while you were in standard membership. See below section on the importance of maintaining continuous membership.

Only existing NEU members can transfer to retired membership. It is not possible to join as a retired member if you are not currently a member.

If you are retiring and wish to move to retired membership, please contact the membership team at [email protected] or by calling 0345 811 8111.

Associate membership is available for those who are no longer eligible for standard membership because they have left employment in education but who have not retired. As an associate member you will be eligible for representation and legal support in relation to issues arising from your employment while you were in standard membership. See below section on the importance of maintaining ‘Continuous membership’.

If you are leaving employment in education and wish to move to associate membership, please contact the membership team at [email protected] or by calling 0345 811 8111.

If you wish to retain access to union advice and assistance, you must maintain continuous full, retired or associate membership of the union as appropriate. Once your membership stops you will not be entitled to advice or support from the union, even if you are seeking help with an issue that relates to a time when you were a member.

Yes. The NEU and the Musicians’ Union are committed to joint working to support music education. Members of each union can join the other at a reduced rate.

If you are a National Education Union member, the majority of your work is classroom based, but some of your work is as a musician performing, writing or teaching, you can join the Musicians Union at half the annual subscription rate. Email [email protected] to join at the reduced rate.

If you’re already a member of the Musicians’ Union, the majority of your work is as a musician, performing, writing and teaching, but some of your work is classroom based, you can join the National Education Union at a flat rate of 15% of our standard membership rate (regardless of job role and working hours).

If you require further information, please email [email protected] or call 0345 811 8111.

The National Education Union is the UK’s largest education union and we use our members’ strength of voice to campaign effectively and to influence political parties on the issues which matter most.

Like many other unions, the NEU has a non-party political fund whereby members can opt to pay a small amount on top of their subscription to support our campaigning work. The political fund contribution is 1% of the full Standard (teacher/lecturer) subscription for all members whatever their normal subscription to the union.

The NEU does not affiliate to and does not financially support any political party. We maintain our independence in order to persuade every party to make the best decisions for education professionals and their learners.

Non-party political funds are not uncommon among trade unions – education unions, NASUWT and UCU, and civil service union Prospect have funds and they also do not affiliate to any political party.

Before leaving the union, please talk to your rep, your branch, or the membership team about whether there are other options you might want to explore. For instance, members who are on Maternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave, or Adoption Leave do not have to pay membership fees for the duration of the period of leave, up to a maximum of 18 months. If you work part-time reduced rates might apply. Associate membership is available for those who are no longer eligible for standard membership because they have left employment in education but who have not retired.

Members who are retiring can maintain membership at a reduced rate as a retired member, rather than cancelling their membership.

If you wish to retain access to union advice and assistance, you must maintain continuous full, retired or associate membership of the union as appropriate. Once your membership stops you will not be entitled to advice or support from the union, even if you are seeking help with an issue that relates to a time when you were a member.

If you need further advice on options such as retired membership or notifying the union that you’re on maternity leave, please contact membership or call the membership team on 0345 811 8111 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). 

If you still want to cancel your membership, please fill out this form and click submit. The NEU membership team will receive notification of your cancellation and will email you written confirmation. Please note this might go to your junk folder.

Unfortunately, the NEU cannot offer representation or assistance, including legal advice, in relation to problems that existed prior to joining the NEU. For this reason, it’s important not to wait until you have a problem at work to join a union. It is also important to maintain continuity of membership to retain access to advice or support from the union.

Your NEU membership does not include public liability or professional indemnity cover. If you undertake self-employed work, you will need to arrange your own professional indemnity and liability cover.

You may wish to contact the NEU’s insurers, Alan Boswell group, who offer a public liability and professional indemnity policy for NEU members which covers teaching all academic subjects plus sports coaching, music, drama, technology, cookery and practical science activities.