Commenting on the recommendations made by the government of a 2.8% pay rise for teaching staff made to the independent pay review body, the STRB Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“We are very disappointed. This recommendation falls far short of what is needed to restore the competitiveness of the teaching profession, to enable it to retain experienced professionals and attract new talent.  

“The public sector has carried the financial burden for far too long. The legacy of failure to tackle the really serious recruitment and retention crisis is putting children’s education at risk.

“School leaders will be particularly worried that the Department for Education is suggesting that this underwhelming proposal will not be funded. This would inevitably push already-stretched budgets to breaking point, forcing head teachers into really unpalatable decisions.

“Pay for leaders and teachers fell by almost a fifth in real-terms between 2010 and 2024, and while we welcomed the 5.5% award agreed for the current year, we are clear that it needs to be the first in a series of uplifts which sit comfortably above inflation in order to restore the real terms value of salaries over this Parliament. The review body concluded in its last report that salaries were not proving competitive enough to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and leaders, and there is little to suggest this has changed.

“When we submit our own evidence, this will show pay has fallen well behind other comparable graduate careers, and that too many new and experienced teachers are leaving the profession for opportunities offering better remuneration without the same high-stakes pressure and heavy workload.

“The government is currently talking about prioritising expenditure in next year’s spending review – but little can be more important than the education of our children and young people, and it’s vital we see sustained investment in the schools and staff responsible for this.

“We now look to the STRB to analyse all the evidence and assert its independence.”