This pay claim sets out the position of the National Education Union (NEU) in relation to the key teacher pay and conditions issues in England. We do not restrict ourselves to the matters set out in the Secretary of State’s remit letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB); nor will we be restricted by the format or timetable for STRB evidence.
The NEU is the largest education union representing teachers, lecturers, support staff, and school leaders, in maintained and independent schools and colleges across the UK. This pay claim reflects the real lived experience of our members and that of teachers across the school system.
The facts are clear. The review body system has failed teachers and the education service. Teacher pay has been cut savagely in real terms. The national teacher pay structure has been dismantled and performance-related pay (PRP) imposed. Teacher workload remains sky-high. School funding is too low. We have a teacher recruitment and retention crisis, with teacher shortages across the school system.
The Government must as a matter of urgency engage in direct negotiations with the unions with the aim of securing the fully funded and significant improvements in pay and conditions required to properly value, recruit and retain teachers.
We set out below the key issues on the table for those negotiations. Attached to this document are two appendices with detailed statistical evidence on teacher pay and supply. This statistical evidence fully supports the NEU’s case on teacher pay and conditions, as well as on school funding.
In summary, the NEU calls for the following:
Urgent, significant and fully funded movement towards complete reversal of the real terms pay cuts since 2010.
Reform of the pay structure, to provide a fair national pay structure with appropriate levels of pay and progression and no element of PRP.
Effective and fully funded action to tackle excessive workload.
