National Education Union members who teach in sixth form colleges will on Monday 9 June commence an indicative ballot in support of their 2025/26 pay claim, which calls for an above-inflation pay rise that constitutes a meaningful step towards real-terms pay restoration as well as a number of workload commitments.
Should the ballot be successful and the claim not be met by the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA), then this would be followed by a formal ballot for strike action in the Autumn.
Members across 75 colleges will be balloted. While the sixth form funding rate has improved for the 2025/26 college year and the Secretary of State for Education has announced a further £190m of funding for 16-19 education, since 2010 significant funding cuts to the sector have negatively affected colleges and this period has seen the real-terms value of teacher pay in sixth form colleges fall precipitously.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Our sixth form college teachers deserve a fair, above-inflation pay rise that that constitutes a meaningful step towards real terms pay restoration. Following the guarantees secured earlier this year for sixth form college teachers in non-academised colleges, any pay rise should apply equally to all and we will not accept anything less.
"Although the recent improvements to sixth form college funding will begin to close the 16-19 funding gap that opened up through harmful education cuts between 2010 and 2020, there is still a long way to go. Our members expect and demand better for education."
Editor's Note:
The indicative ballot opens on 9 June and closes on 3 July.