Two indicative ballots of NEU members have now closed. Teacher and support staff members working in state schools in England were consulted online in separate ballots between 28 February and 17 April 2026.
Teacher and leader members of the National Education Union (NEU) have voted to reject the government's proposed unfunded pay offer of 6.5 per cent over three years.
Teachers, leaders and support staff in England all indicated their willingness to take strike action not only over pay, but also funding and workload.
The teacher ballot asked:
Do you reject the proposal of an unfunded 6.5 per cent increase over three years for teacher pay?
Are you prepared to take industrial action to win sufficient funding to secure an above inflation pay increase, reduce workload and defend existing directed time provisions, including the 1,265 hours limit?
96 per cent of members who responded voted to REJECT the offer.
And 90.5 per cent said they would be PREPARED to take industrial action to secure better funding.
The overall turnout in the teacher ballot was 48.6 per cent of those eligible to vote.
The support staff ballot asked:
Do you agree that the defence of support staff jobs is essential to save education?
Are you prepared to take industrial action to win sufficient funding to secure an above inflation pay increase, reduce workload and prevent redundancies?
99.5 per cent of members who responded AGREED with question one.
And 86.1 per cent said they would be PREPARED to take industrial action to secure better funding.
The overall turnout in the support staff ballot was 55.5 per cent of those eligible to vote.
Next steps
The national executive will meet next month to determine the next steps.
Commenting on the results of the indicative ballots, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"It is an inescapable fact that schools are running on empty. More than 15 years of real-terms funding cuts have left us on our knees. Resources have dwindled while workload has increased in intensity.
"Retention rates for teachers and support staff are dire - schools are desperately short of teaching assistants and subject specialists. It feels like there is no help coming.
"The government's response is an unfunded 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers over three years. This is likely to be below inflation, compounding the real-terms pay cut of 20 per cent that educators have already endured since 2010.
"To add insult to injury, schools will be given no new money to fund staff pay - this will mean more cuts. Cuts to support staff jobs, cuts to subject choices, cuts to basic resources. Cuts that damage children's education.
"This government seems intent on attacking our schools. That is why our members have indicated they are willing to take whatever action is necessary to Save Education."