Government will not announce decision on teacher pay this week – Phillipson

The Government will not announce its decision on the pay award for teachers this week, the Education Secretary has said.

Union leaders have been calling on the Government to urgently announce its pay offer for teachers and school leaders in England for September ahead of the summer break to provide clarity to the profession.

In a webinar on Tuesday afternoon, Bridget Phillipson said she wanted to be “honest and upfront” with the sector that the Department for Education (DfE) will not be confirming the teacher pay award this week.

Many schools across England are due to break up for the summer holidays by the end of this week.

A headteachers’ union leader said the delay was “disappointing” as schools needed clarity on what they should be paying their teachers in September in order to plan their budgets before the next academic year.

Schools need to know what they should be paying their teachers in September and make those changes to their payroll and their budgets

Addressing sector leaders in the broadcast, Ms Phillipson said: “I know that is frustrating and we know there is an urgency around that and we are working across government to work as quickly as we can.”

She added that the Government will not be able to provide indicative school and high needs national funding formula allocations in the “usual timescales”.

The Education Secretary said: “Again I understand the challenges that presents, but we’re doing our best to move as quickly as we can.”

Ms Phillipson said the Government will be writing to local authorities and academies on Wednesday to confirm the delay.

The National Education Union (NEU) has been calling on the new Government to publish the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), and whether the DfE will accept them, as part of its first actions.

Last year, NEU members staged eight days of strike action in state schools in England in a pay dispute.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “It is disappointing and frustrating that the teachers’ pay decision will not be made this week before the end of the summer term.

“Schools need to know what they should be paying their teachers in September and make those changes to their payroll and their budgets.

“This is obviously not going to happen now, and the pay award will inevitably have to be backdated once it is eventually finalised.

“The delay is obviously the result of the suspension of government business during the General Election and then a change of government only a fortnight ago.

“However, we’ve had very late settlements in recent years even without these circumstances and we really do need the new government to commit to make these decisions much earlier than has been the case with the previous government.

“We also need a settlement that is fair to teachers and fully funded for schools to be able to afford the costs.”

I know that is frustrating and we know there is an urgency around that and we are working across government to work as quickly as we can

Patrick Roach , general secretary of NASUWT teaching union, said: “The delay to the publication of the STRB report will no doubt raise questions, so it is vital that the new government works quickly to provide the clarity, transparency and certainty that teachers deserve.”

He added: “The new Government has the opportunity to build a new relationship with the profession by quickly confirming its commitment to delivering a funded pay award this year and embarking on work with us on the big question of teachers’ pay restoration.”

In its own evidence to the STRB in February, the DfE said that teachers’ pay awards should “return to a more sustainable level” after “two unprecedented years”.

In July last year, the Government agreed to implement the STRB’s recommendation of a 6.5% increase for teachers in England, and co-ordinated strike action by four education unions was called off.

In April, delegates at the NEU’s annual conference voted to wait to hear what the Government’s pay offer for teachers will be before potentially moving to a formal ballot on strike action.

The NEU has said it will have a “snap poll” in September to allow its members to judge whether the Government’s 2024/25 pay offer is acceptable or not.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “We had asked that the STRB recommendations were published prior to the election and understand this has impacted timings.

“The delay to funding allocations will also cause difficulties for already stretched schools.

“However, we recognise the need to take sufficient time to determine how to fund and restore real terms pay in order to once again make teaching an attractive and compelling graduate career option that retains teachers and leaders for the long term.”