Education unions have ramped up their pay demands after news that teaching staff vacancies have more than doubled since 2020 and working hours have increased year-on-year.
The National Association of Head Teachers has this week called for a “double-digit” pay increase in September, while the National Education Union has launched a preliminary ballot of members for industrial action over teacher pay and school funding.
However, in its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), the Department for Education (DfE) has called for teacher pay rises to “return to a more sustainable level”.
In a technical note on school costs for 2024/25, published at the same time, the DfE states that school budgets in the next financial year will probably allow for a maximum increase in spending of £600m – which means that according to these DfE calculations any pay rise would be limited to 2%.
