Responding to the Government’s announcement to accept in full the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body and award a 5.5% increase to the pay of teachers and headteachers from September 2024, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said:
“Teachers will welcome the new Government’s commitment to delivering a timely and funded pay award against the backdrop of an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis and the pressures on school budgets.
“Today’s above-inflation announcement is an important first step in restoring the competitiveness of teachers’ pay after the last 14 years of pay freezes, pay cuts and below-inflation awards that fueled the teacher recruitment and retention crisis and left teachers’ pay in freefall in real-terms year after year.
“Today’s announcement represents an important start in the process of repairing the damage of the last 14 years.
“We welcome confirmation that, despite the huge pressures on the public finances, the new Government is making a clear commitment to investing in teachers and protecting school budgets. We look forward to discussing with the Government the package of additional funding for schools and the next steps to improve the status of the profession.
“In contrast to the last Government that cut budgets and chose to kick the can down the road by refusing to publish the STRB Report prior to the general election, the new Government has moved quickly to end speculation by publishing the pay review body report and committing to funding its proposals.
“We welcome that the new Government has chosen to respect and take seriously the work of the pay review body after the last 14 years of government interference and lip-service.
“We are also pleased that the new Government has listened to us and agreed to scrap the system of performance related pay (PRP) introduced by the previous government. PRP was discriminatory, divisive and deeply damaging to teacher morale and collegiate working in schools, and it is high time to consign it to the dustbin of history.
“As we look forward to discussions with the new Government on a national workforce plan to secure world-class working conditions in our schools, we also welcome the efforts to secure a new deal for teachers and for children’s education within just a few weeks of Ministers taking office.
“We now look forward to working with the Government to build on this positive start.”
