NEU to ballot members over proposed 2.8% pay offer for 2025/6
The National Education Union (NEU) has announced a ballot on future strike action following the Department for Education's (DfE) proposal of a 2.8% pay award for 2025/6.
When submitting their evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) in December 2024 ahead of the 2025/6 pay round the DfE communicated that a 2.8% pay award was appropriate for 2025/6 and most schools would need to find 'efficiencies' to fund it.
A preliminary online ballot will take place, followed by an indicative ballot between 1 March and 11 April 2025. Industrial action, if called, will occur during the summer term.
The NEU views the proposal of an award of 2.8% insufficient to address the ongoing crisis in teacher recruitment and retention and has expressed severe concerns about both the lack of funding attached and the need for schools to cut staff and resources in order to deliver it.
The proposed pay award for 2025/6 contrasts dramatically with the fully funded 5.5% pay award received by the sector under the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) for 2024/5.
Calling for an indicative ballot this early in the pay round and before publication of the 2025 report of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) and confirmation of the pay award (expected in April 2025) is highly unusual.
Update - Recent Strike Action in Sixth-Form Colleges
Over 2000 NEU sixth-form college teachers took part in strike action in sixth-form colleges on 28 November, 3 December, and 4 December. Action was called due to dissatisfaction with unequal funding for pay between academised and non-academised sixth forms leading to an unequal pay offer for 2024/5.
Since the initial strike action in 2024 the Sixth Form Colleges Association has made a revised offer to the unions offering teachers in non-academised sixth forms a 3.5% pay rise for the period September 2024 to the end of March 2025, then a 5.5% pay rise from April 2025 to the end of August 2025.
This compares to a pay offer for teachers in academised sixth forms of 5.5% for the equivalent period.
The NEU views this continued lack of parity as unacceptable.
Teachers in sixth form colleges took part in further strike action between 7 January and 9 January 2025 due to continued dissatisfaction with a '2-tier' pay system.
We will continue to follow the progress of all strike action relevant to the sector and update you regularly.
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