Full text of the letter
Dear Secretary of State
School Teachers’ Pay: STRB’s 35th Report and Government Response
Overview
This joint response to the statutory consultation on the STRB report and the Government’s response comes from the unions representing the majority of teachers and school leaders in England. It sets out the united response of the unions on the key issues relating to the pay and conditions of teachers and school leaders, and the associated school funding issues.
We welcome the Government’s decision to provide additional funding for the 4% increase for 2025-26 recommended by the STRB, but we are clear that there is still a significant funding shortfall and that this requires additional investment from the Government. Years of underfunding have damaged our education service and schools are under enormous financial pressure. The Government was elected last year on a promise of change and this change must include the additional funding needed to repair the damage caused by lack of investment under previous administrations.
We also need to see a change in Government policy on teacher and school leader pay and conditions. Last year’s above-inflation pay increase was a welcome start, but we were clear then and we are clear now that this was only the first step in reversing the pay cuts against inflation and repairing the competitive position of the profession. The recruitment and retention crisis will not be solved unless the Government provides the investment needed to secure significant improvements in teacher and school leader pay and conditions. This is an important political choice for the Government to make: invest in teachers and school leaders, to protect our education service; or fail to invest and see the recruitment and retention crisis continue.
Set out below are the key issues on teacher and school leader pay and conditions. We continue to seek to engage positively with you on the solutions urgently needed to solve the evident and continuing recruitment and retention problems. We look forward to engaging positively and collaboratively in the discussions needed, but those discussions must be grounded in an acceptance of the critical nature of the problems and the urgency of the solutions.
Pay, recruitment and retention
Once again, the STRB has underlined the need to improve the competitiveness of teacher and school leader pay. It highlights strong earnings growth in the wider economy and the post-pandemic recovery in the wider graduate market. The STRB notes the extent to which teacher and school leader pay has fallen compared to a range of metrics: the whole economy, the public sector, and professional occupations. The STRB concludes that: “On a range of comparisons, the competitiveness of teacher pay has reduced markedly over a number of years.” The STRB’s pay benchmarking exercise shows that across all parts of the pay structure teachers and school leader pay falls well short of the most competitive pay levels in the wider economy.
The huge real terms teacher and school leader pay cuts against inflation have been significantly greater than those experienced by other professions. Last year’s above-inflation pay increase was welcome, but still left teacher and school leader pay around a fifth lower than in 2010 in real terms against RPI inflation. The latest OBR prediction for the third quarter of 2025 shows RPI inflation at 4.6%, so this year’s 4% increase for teachers and school leaders is likely to mean another real terms pay cut against RPI inflation.
We are clear that these huge real terms pay cuts need to be reversed if the competitive position of teaching is to be repaired and the recruitment and retention crisis tackled. Unless the Government properly values teachers and school leaders, the recruitment and retention problems will intensify. Investing properly in teachers and school leaders is therefore in the interests of parents and young people too.
The STRB report shows the impact on teacher and school leader pay of years of pay freezes and below-inflation pay increases. The Government must turn the page on years of this damaging policy of pay cuts. We jointly call on the Government to invest to secure the major pay correction needed to reverse the real terms cuts to teacher and school leader pay since 2010, with future pay increases in this Parliament significantly above RPI inflation.
The STRB notes that recruitment targets were again missed by wide margins in 2024-25. Recruitment targets were missed across the secondary curriculum, with two-thirds of subjects missing their targets. The number of teachers from overseas awarded QTS declined sharply. The STRB states that it “remains deeply concerned about the overall level of recruitment.”
On retention, the STRB notes that headline leaving rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels and that the number of teachers leaving for non-retirement reasons has increased markedly to some 40,000. As with recruitment, the STRB expresses concerns on the message the figures provide on retention issues.
New data published on 5 June underlined the extent of the recruitment and retention problems. The number of newly qualified teachers entering English state sector schools fell to its lowest number since comparable records began in 2010. The number leaving the profession before retirement fell slightly compared to the previous two years but was still significantly higher than in any other year since 2010. Retention rates continued to get worse across most cohorts, with more than a quarter of teachers leaving within three years and almost a third within five years. More head teachers are leaving than at any time on record.
The STRB reiterates the point it made last year, that spending too little on pay “can result in serious problems incurring additional future costs, ultimately representing poor value for money.” This supports our case that refusing to invest properly in teacher and school leader pay is a huge false economy. It leads to shortages across the school system and its impact on our education service damages teachers, school leaders, parents, young people and the economy.
Pay structure issues
The STRB goes on to suggest a number of “suggestions” and “observations” relating to the pay structure and career pathways. We deal with these issues below; the issue of flexible working is addressed in the separate section of this document on workload.
We welcome the amendment to the STPCD such that a TLR payment reflects the proportion of the responsibility being carried out. We call for implementation of this fairer arrangement in all schools from September 2025.
We completely reject the STRB’s proposal to invite it or another body to undertake work on targeted pay. The STRB continues to return to this issue despite the overwhelming and justified opposition of the profession to targeted pay. For clarity, we reiterate our united opposition to targeted pay on the basis of location, subject or phase. Such an approach would be divisive and would lead to greater pay inequality.
Far from solving the recruitment and retention problems, targeted pay would add to them. The consensus on this issue is clear and we urge you to be equally clear in rejecting the STRB’s suggestion.
The STRB also suggests that it or another body be required to undertake work on modernising teacher employment terms and conditions, and on career pathways. We are mindful that historic recommendations by the STRB have resulted in the dismantling of the national pay structure and imposition of performance-related pay (PRP), without any objective justification and in opposition to the consensus view across the profession. It is our joint view, therefore, that while the STRB might be tasked with building initial proposals in collaboration with statutory consultees, any final structure must be agreed via direct negotiation with the unions.
The need for a fair national pay structure, with mandatory national pay values and pay progression and pay portability to reflect the acquisition of experience and expertise, must be the focus of pay structure reform. We look forward to engaging with the Government directly on these important issues.
The STRB notes the continuing strength of feeling on PRP. We continue to call for the complete and mandatory removal of PRP, which has done immense damage to career progression, recruitment and retention, and workload. We urge you to act to remove PRP on a mandatory basis as a matter of urgency.
Workload
Excessive workload and poor wellbeing are driving teachers and leaders out of the profession, worsening the recruitment and retention crisis in education. The STRB recognises that "unmanageable working hours negatively impact recruitment and retention." If workload doesn't decrease significantly, the crisis will continue to harm education quality. Efforts to reduce workload, improve work/life balance, and provide flexible working options are vital for maintaining a steady supply of educators.
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) highlights severe challenges in teacher recruitment and retention. NFER stresses the need for concentrated efforts to lower working hours, as high workload and stress consistently rank as primary reasons for education staff departures, especially in a competitive job market.
The unions call for effective workload reductions that aid retention and support the work of the Improving Education Together (IET) board. The STRB must advocate for significant investment in school funding to realise enhanced wellbeing and facilitate flexible working conditions, which are especially important in a profession predominantly comprised of women. High workload and inflexible hours disproportionately affect those with caregiving responsibilities, widening the gender pay gap. Notably, women in their 30s, who typically manage young children, leave the profession at higher rates. Consequently, reforms should promote part-time and job-share career pathways, eradicate the stigma around part-time work, and support women in advancing to leadership roles. This includes removing barriers to part-time requests, ensuring appropriate TLR payments, and making leadership positions available for job-sharing. To be clear, continued funding insufficiency that drives financial pressures on school staffing remains the principal barrier to achieving more flexible employment models across the school sector. Since around 76% of teachers are female, addressing workload pressures is crucial to retaining experienced female educators.
The STPCD currently contains a clause mandating teachers to work unlimited “reasonable additional hours,” leading to open-ended working conditions. This clause should be abolished or strictly capped. No teacher or leader should be required to work beyond 1,265 directed hours (full-time) or the pro rata equivalent. Additional duties must be voluntary or formally agreed upon, protecting work/life balance and aligning teaching with professions that enforce maximum working hours.
The STRB rightly calls for improvements in flexible working arrangements. We broadly support the development and implementation of flexible working policies, but this is aligned to funding sufficiency and sustained investment. To be clear, many leaders are currently being forced to restructure their staff teams in response to funding pressures, reducing numbers or hours of teaching assistants and teachers. Many leaders have also been forced to take on additional teaching responsibilities, and additional roles, such as SENCo or safeguarding lead, adding to well documented routinely excessive working hours, and increased risk to health and well- being. Our organisations are committed to achieving employment flexibility, but we refuse a divisive approach that demands leadership accountability without the requisite resources to deliver.
These policies must be fully resourced to realise the offer of options like remote PPA time, staggered hours, compressed or annualised hours, term-time leave, phased retirement, and four-day work weeks. Promoting diverse, flexible working methods will broaden the talent pool, enhancing recruitment and retention, particularly for parents and caregivers, while improving overall wellbeing.
Workload reforms must integrate robust wellbeing support. The Government should mandate and provide dedicated funding to deliver the Staff Wellbeing Charter in schools, emphasising measures like dedicated wellbeing time, senior roles focused on staff welfare, mental health awareness in the STPCD, access to support services, and involvement of union health and safety representatives. Given the clear relationship between staff wellbeing and retention, the Government must provide funding for essential wellness initiatives.
Addressing excessive workload, enhancing work/life balance, and increasing flexible working opportunities are imperative to tackling education's recruitment and retention crisis. Immediate reforms are essential to retain experienced staff, especially female teachers and leaders, fostering a more inclusive and supportive teaching profession, ultimately benefiting student education quality.
Yours sincerely
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary NEU
Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary ASCL
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary NAHT
Helen Osgood, Director of Operations Community
[1] STRB 35th Report, paragraph 2.15.
[2] STRB 35th Report, pages 9-10.
[3] STRB 35th Report, paragraph 2.37.
[4] STRB 35th Report, paragraph 2.42.
[5] STRB 35th Report, paragraph 2.55.