Summary
- A pay increase that is above the RPI rate of inflation from 1 September 2025 on all pay points and allowances, and that constitutes a meaningful step towards real terms pay restoration
- An additional increase from 1 September 2025 on the London allowances
- Accelerated joint discussions on workload and working time over the Summer Term, with an agreed position to be reached by the close of Autumn Term 2025.
Full claim
This pay claim sets out the position of the Staff Side in relation to sixth form college teachers' pay and conditions from September 2025. The pay claim is set in the context of the cost of living crisis and significant funding increases since 2020.
The pay increases for 2024-25 maintained the parity in teachers’ pay between the sixth form college and school sectors at the minimum and maximum of the scales. They also increased pay in real terms with Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation at 2.7% in September 2024. By April 2025, however, RPI inflation was 4.5% and teachers in most designated sixth form colleges had to wait until that month for their pay to be increased by 5.5%. It was welcome that the joint statement agreed on 31 January 2025 included the following:
“Additional funding for an improved pay award was secured through actions of the NJC constituent bodies, and the Employers' Side believes that firm reassurances have been given from Government that this differential treatment will not be repeated beyond this year. The NJC Staff Side and the Employers’ Side acknowledge the respective positions of each side, but both sides are in agreement that differential pay offers will not be put forward in future years, with a single date for pay settlement.”
The Staff Side continues to believe that the pay of all teachers, whatever their sector, is too low and must be increased significantly. Since 2010, the value of teachers’ pay in schools and sixth form colleges alike has fallen dramatically, both in real terms and by comparison to the pay of graduates more generally.
The cumulative effect since 2010 has been that pay for a teacher on pay point 9 in a sixth form college academy has fallen by 21% relative to RPI inflation. Pay for the same teacher in a designated sixth form college has fallen by 22% as a consequence of the differentiated pay award for 2024-25. We are also concerned that one college that is a current signatory to the NJC arrangements has failed to implement the award and we would hope that the Employers Side would work jointly with us to ensure that all colleges adhere to the NJC pay recommendation at a minimum. The pay offer must take into consideration the need for restoring the real terms value of pay for all Sixth Form College teachers.
Mortgage payments for many teachers have increased significantly since 2022. Without another pay rise above RPI inflation, many sixth form college teachers will continue to struggle to keep up with mortgage payments. A pay increase for 2025-26 that is above RPI inflation in September 2025 will protect teacher living standards and continue to restore the pay lost in real terms since 2010. It will also help colleges to recruit and retain teachers during the recruitment and retention crisis referred to in recent reports from the Education Select Committee and the National Foundation for Educational Research.
The Staff Side believes that the funding position of sixth form colleges means that a significant pay increase is possible. The funding rate has been increased from £4,000 for the 2019-20 college year to £5,026 for 2025-26, while colleges in most areas have an increasing pool of young people to recruit from. It has been estimated that by 2028 the number of 16-year-old students will have increased by 24% since 2019.
On 22 May additional funding of £160 million for colleges providing 16-19 education was announced for the 2025-26 financial year.
The working party that discussed the long-standing issue of pay comparability in London should reconvene with the aim of reporting conclusively before the start of Autumn Term 2025. The high cost of living in London, particularly housing, means that there will continue to be recruitment and retention issues if this pay gap is not addressed.
Increasing workloads across the sixth form college sector continue to be a matter of concern to the Staff Side. While a working party on workload and working time was formed in July 2024, the Employers’ Side is yet to respond to the below Staff Side proposals:
- PPA or protected desk time equivalent to be added to Red Book: 20% of timetabled teaching time per week should be allocated for planning, preparation and assessment to reflect the growing difficulty of ensuring protected time in colleges. Any Red Book wording introducing this principle should set out that this time may not be used for cover.
The SFCA ‘Working Arrangements for Teaching Staff: 2023 survey report’ found that average non-contact time in colleges was 4.5 hours: relatively close to the 20% minimum given the average contact time as set out below:
- Limit on contact hours: A clear limit of no more than 20 hours of contact time per week should be set out in the Red Book;
- Class sizes: An upper limit of 25 students per class for non-practical classes and 20 students for practical classes to be introduced into the Red Book, reflecting current DfE guidance on room sizes;
- ‘Rarely cover’: Strengthened wording on cover to be inserted into Appendix 4, point 8 and Appendix 9, paragraphs 25-26 of the Red Book. This wording would include the statement that: ‘Teachers should be required to provide cover only rarely, and only in circumstances that are not foreseeable’;
- Workload principles: To agree a set of principles to be added to the Sixth Form Colleges Terms and Conditions. This would start with a statement that the college is committed to addressing workload and will develop principles around administrative and clerical tasks, workload impact assessments of existing and new policies and initiatives, meetings and open events, data management, use of online platforms and expectations around communication with staff, students and parents;
- Directed time principles: An agreed set of principles for the allocation of directed time. This guidance will be a basis for consultation and negotiation on an agreed directed time calendar between principals/employers and teacher union representatives. This will clarify which activities should be considered ‘directed time’. An agreed directed time calendar will allow for time to be effectively managed so that teachers are able to achieve a satisfactory balance between work and home.
We expect movement on all points this year with a clear response to our proposals as part of the response to this pay claim overall. We recommend that discussions through the working party on workload and working time are accelerated in the Summer Term with the intention that an agreed position is reached before the conclusion of Autumn Term 2025.
In addition, the Staff Side notes the proposed technical update of the Burgundy Book and wishes to discuss the terms around maternity and family leave and pay.