“If the government does not commit to fully funding this pay award and continues to expect schools to do more with less, we are prepared to register a formal dispute over funding.”
By Daniel Kebede, National Education Union
A shift in government attitude has led to a significant increase in the original proposed pay award for teachers. The government’s initial offer was just 2.8% with zero additional funding attached. The revised offer of a 4% pay award for teachers in England is a direct result of the strength of feeling in the profession and pressure from NEU members.
The increase to 4% and the provision of £615 million in extra funding did not come out of thin air. It came because educators stood up and demanded better for our young people.
While this latest offer is a step forward which the NEU acknowledges and welcomes, it is not enough to undo the damage caused by 14 years of chronic government cuts.
This year’s 4% uplift is, at best, just above projected inflation. It may slow the immediate decline in real terms pay, but it does little to address the long-term degradation of pay and conditions across the profession.
Crucially, this pay award is still not fully funded. School costs will increase by 4.1% for 2025/26 but school funding will only rise by 3.4%, leaving a significant gap. In total there will be a £630 million real terms cut to school funding.
In many schools, this shortfall will translate directly into cuts to provision for children and young people, job losses among vital staff, and increased workload for an already overstretched profession.
This is the fourth year in a row that schools have had their spending power cut and been forced to make cuts. 70% of schools in England have less funding in real terms than in 2010 and a combination of pay freezes and below-inflation pay awards have cut the value of teacher and school leader pay by around 25% when measured against RPI inflation.
These figures reflect a profession under immense strain. Teachers and school leaders are working harder than ever, yet feel increasingly undervalued, underpaid, and overworked. Recruitment targets have been repeatedly missed, and the retention crisis has deepened. It is the pupils who suffer most when we lose good teachers.
It is unacceptable that schools are being asked to shoulder the burden of a national pay award without guaranteed funding. Children deserve a fully resourced education and a government that sees education as an investment in the country’s future rather than a cost.
The NEU will never accept cuts to education and the false economy of underfunded pay awards.
There is enough money to fully fund our schools and teacher pay – it’s just being misspent. We need a cap on excessive CEO pay, the introduction of national energy contracts for schools, and an end to extortionate supply agency fees. These are practical, immediate steps that the government could take to release funding back into the classroom.
If the government does not commit to fully funding this pay award and continues to expect schools to do more with less, we are prepared to register a formal dispute over funding. We will make sure that every parent understands what’s at stake and we will campaign so that every MP hears our message.
The NEU is clear on what must happen next: educators need a fully funded pay settlement that begins to restore what has been lost, not just slow the pace of decline. The government must commit to reversing the long decline in teacher pay and to ending the cycle of real-terms cuts to school budgets.
The Chancellor’s spending review on 11 June is a test to see whether Labour will deliver the change that millions voted for last year.
The last Labour government spent over 5% of GDP on education. 5% is the OECD average. This government are currently spending only 4.2%.
If the Government is serious about delivering their opportunity mission, getting education spending back at least up to the OECD average should be a clear priority for the Government at the spending review and in this autumn’s budget.
- Daniel Kebede is the General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU).
- You can follow Daniel on Twitter/X on bluesky; and follow the NEU on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
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