Education unions have today (Thurs 25 May) written to the Secretary of State for Education calling for the government to formally publish the recently leaked pay recommendation made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) and to urgently re-start negotiations in the dispute over teacher and leader pay and the funding of pay awards.

The letter, signed by NAHT’s Paul Whiteman, NASUWT’s Dr Patrick Roach, NEU’s Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, and ASCL’s Geoff Barton, states:

“Following this weekend’s leak of the STRB’s recommended award of 6.5%, we write to you to urgently request that you re-start negotiations with us.

“It is only right that we, and the profession, receive confirmation on the accuracy, or otherwise, of the STRB recommendation on next year’s pay award. We ask you to publish the STRB report and then to confirm whether the recommendation made by the independent pay review body will be accepted by your government and, further, that it will be fully funded for every school and implemented from September.

“In a recent meeting we presented evidence to DfE officials of the funding pressures on schools and calculations of the extra funding required to pay an award without cutting other essential aspects of their provision. Now that the STRB report is with you, and its pay recommendation is known to you, it is imperative that you publish the report and make arrangements to continue with those discussions.”

The four unions remain in dispute over this year’s pay award. The letter also calls for further discussions on workload and inspection, stating:

“We continue to believe that progress on non-pay matters is vital if there is to be any chance of a halt in the precipitous decline in the number of graduates applying for teacher training and the increasing numbers of teachers leaving the profession prematurely. The two, combined, are an escalating and imminent threat to the quality of education that schools are able to provide.”

The letter in full: Sec of State Joint Union Letter STRB 25 May 2023.pdf