[UK] 3.5% pay rise for England’s teachers

The UK government has announced that teachers in England will receive a 3.5 per cent pay rise from September and a further 3 per cent the following year, BBC News reports.

The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed £1.8bn in additional funding but said schools would have to fund the first 1 per cent of each rise from existing budgets. In addition, DfE announced that it was curbing the pay of top leaders in academy trusts.

The largest teaching union in England, the National Education Union (NEU), reportedly said it was "considering all options", including a formal ballot on strike action.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson stated that the offer demonstrated the "immense value we place in our teachers".

Ms Phillipson added that teachers should not be "seeing executive pay rise faster than their own" and "tighter controls will mean unjustifiable exec salaries become a thing of the past".

Under the changes, trusts will need the government to approve any jobs advertised with salaries of more than £174,000, from September, and executives may not receive higher pay rises than classroom teachers.

In May, the NEU reportedly said it would hold a formal ballot for industrial action over pay in the autumn if the government did not improve its initial proposal.

When asked if this would still go ahead following the latest offer, a spokesperson told BBC News, "We are considering all options."

The union's general secretary, Daniel Kebede, stated that the pay rise itself was "not the decisive shift" needed.

"A partially funded settlement still means cuts to education," he said, since schools will have to find money for it from existing budgets. "The NEU will never accept that."

Mr Kebede reportedly confirmed to the BBC that its national executive would meet next week to decide the next steps.

Source: BBC News

(Quotes via original reporting)

The UK government has announced that teachers in England will receive a 3.5 per cent pay rise from September and a further 3 per cent the following year, BBC News reports.

The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed £1.8bn in additional funding but said schools would have to fund the first 1 per cent of each rise from existing budgets. In addition, DfE announced that it was curbing the pay of top leaders in academy trusts.

The largest teaching union in England, the National Education Union (NEU), reportedly said it was "considering all options", including a formal ballot on strike action.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson stated that the offer demonstrated the "immense value we place in our teachers".

Ms Phillipson added that teachers should not be "seeing executive pay rise faster than their own" and "tighter controls will mean unjustifiable exec salaries become a thing of the past".

Under the changes, trusts will need the government to approve any jobs advertised with salaries of more than £174,000, from September, and executives may not receive higher pay rises than classroom teachers.

In May, the NEU reportedly said it would hold a formal ballot for industrial action over pay in the autumn if the government did not improve its initial proposal.

When asked if this would still go ahead following the latest offer, a spokesperson told BBC News, "We are considering all options."

The union's general secretary, Daniel Kebede, stated that the pay rise itself was "not the decisive shift" needed.

"A partially funded settlement still means cuts to education," he said, since schools will have to find money for it from existing budgets. "The NEU will never accept that."

Mr Kebede reportedly confirmed to the BBC that its national executive would meet next week to decide the next steps.

Source: BBC News

(Quotes via original reporting)