The government won’t confirm teacher pay awards for next academic year this week, and indicative school funding allocations won’t be published “to the usual timescales”, Bridget Phillipson has said.
But the new education secretary said the Department for Education was “doing our best to move as quickly as we can”, insisting she understood the “challenges” delays present.
Most schools break up for the summer holidays this week.
A decision on teacher pay was kicked down the road by the previous government when the election was called, leaving it as an urgent in-tray issue for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour administration.
The report of the School Teachers’ Review Body, along with the government’s response and decision, is usually published in mid to late July each year.
This already causes huge problems for schools, as the pay announcement comes after they are required to set budgets for the next academic year.
‘I will be honest and upfront about where we are’
Phillipson told a webinar for sector workers that she knew “it’s really tough, and I recognise the pressures right across education in terms of what people are experiencing”.
“The commitment that I’ve given is I want to work in partnership with our workforces, with the sector, to rebuild those relationships. And part of that has to be being honest and upfront about where we are.
“So just to be absolutely clear, I’m afraid that we won’t be able to confirm the teacher pay award this week. I know that is frustrating. We know there’s an urgency around that, and we’re working across government to act as quickly as we can.”
Phillipson also confirmed today that government “won’t be able to provide indicative school and high needs national funding formula allocations for 2025-26 to the usual time scales”.
Last year, indicative NFF allocations were published on July 17.
“Again, I understand the challenges that presents that we’re doing our best to move as quickly as we can. I would also say we will be writing out, just to confirm this, tomorrow, to local authorities and to academies.
“But I want to start in the spirit that I intend to proceed, which is being honest and levelling with people, whilst recognising I appreciate that there’s an urgency around that.”
Delays will cause ‘difficulties for stretched schools’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “We look forward to engaging positively with the new government on this year’s pay award when it is ready later this year.
“We had asked that the STRB recommendations were published prior to the election and understand this has impacted timings.”
He said the delay to funding allocations “will also cause difficulties for already stretched schools”.
“However, we recognise the need to take sufficient time to determine how to fund and restore real terms pay in order to once again make teaching an attractive and compelling graduate career option that retains teachers and leaders for the long term.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, who leads the ASCL leaders’ union, said it was “disappointing and frustrating that the teachers’ pay decision will not be made this week before the end of the summer term”.
“Schools need to know what they should be paying their teachers in September and make those changes to their payroll and their budgets. This is obviously not going to happen now, and the pay award will inevitably have to be backdated once it is eventually finalised.”
He blamed the “suspension of government business during the general election and then a change of government only a fortnight ago.
“However, we’ve had very late settlements in recent years even without these circumstances and we really do need the new government to commit to make these decisions much earlier than has been the case with the previous government.”
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