Teaching unions have criticised the Government’s failure to invest in education and delaying the school teacher pay review body process in England.

Teachers have been at the forefront of education for many years, shaping future leaders and inspiring young minds. Despite their invaluable contributions, they often struggle with workload, poor working conditions, lack of resources and below inflation salaries.

Earlier this year thousands of teachers took part in a series of strikes which caused widespread disruption to schools across the UK. In a bid to put an end to industrial action, the Department of Education fully accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) recommendation of a 6.5% pay award across all pay scales, which all four teaching unions accepted.

Teachers received their new pay deal in September 2023 and cancelled planned strikes.

However, teaching unions the NEU and NASUWT have called out the Government for its failure to properly invest in education and for delaying the school teacher pay review body process in England.

The row has erupted amid claims the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, has attempted to “frustrate the statutory scheme” by failing to send a remit letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body “in a timely manner”.

The document is sent to the STRB every year and asks it to make its recommendations for teachers’ pay and conditions the following May.

Keegan wrote to the independent body last November, a month earlier than her predecessors Nadhim Zahawi and Sir Gavin Williamson in 2021 and 2020.

But despite promising in July to “streamline” the STRB process in order to stop decisions on wages from being left until the end of summer, Keegan still has not sent 2024’s remit letter.

The largest teaching union, the NEU has written to Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan calling out the Government for its failure to properly invest in education and for delaying the school teacher pay review body process in England.

Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education said;

“The NEU is calling on Gillian Keegan to urgently issue a remit to the STRB that includes the key issue of restoring the pay lost in real terms.  In the interests of teachers, parents and pupils, the Government must reverse the harm its policies have done to our education service.

‘Last July, the Secretary of State promised to complete the review body process earlier this year to better align it with schools’ budget cycle. And yet her remit letter to the STRB is already three weeks later than last year.

‘Teacher pay has been hit with huge real terms cuts since 2010 and teacher workload is sky high. Today’s catastrophic teacher recruitment figures, with numbers down from an already low base and just 50% of the secondary school target met, are only the latest confirmation of the damage that is being done by the Government’s wilful refusal to improve teacher pay and conditions.  With no new funding for schools, teacher recruitment falling through the floor, and teacher living standards hit hard, the Government is turning its back on the needs of our education service.  That means it is turning its back not only on teachers, but on parents and pupils too”.

Click here to read the full letter.

‘Deliberately interfering in the pay review process’

The NASUWT teaching union has criticised Gillian Keegan of interfering with the pay process.

In a statement released by Dr Patrick Roach, the union’s general secretary, he added: “The Education Secretary is deliberately interfering in the pay review process by her failure to issue a remit to the STRB, in spite of the commitments she gave to unions in the summer to avoid the prospect of nationally coordinated strike action.

“Gillian Keegan is adding insult to injury by preventing the established pay review body process from taking place. It is regrettable but perhaps unsurprising that the secretary of state is seeking to delay the pay review body process after the Chancellor’s autumn statement confirmed the government’s intention to inflict further real terms pay cuts on hardworking teachers.”

Roach said it was “plain for all to see the utter contempt” the government has for the teaching profession.

‘Honour’ pay promise, government urged

During the summer, the Education Secretary told a webinar she understood “the timing of the STRB process and the budgeting process is, let’s just say not ideal, as someone who’s done loads of budgets, I can understand and feel your pain”.

“We will also look to streamline that process so that you get the information early so that you’re not trying to anticipate what percentage you should put in for this or what percentage you should put in for that.”

Roach called on Keegan to honour her commitments and ensure the STRB “is issued with an appropriate remit so that it can immediately consider the matters relating to teachers’ pay and conditions for 2024/25”.

A DfE spokesperson stressed the department “delivered on the manifesto commitment to give every new teacher a starting salary of at least £30,000 – alongside the highest pay award for teachers in over 30 years”.

“We are committed to the independent pay review body process and we will always carefully consider the operation of the pay round on any given year.”