STRB: We need to know teacher pay-rise plans, leaders tell DfE

The government has confirmed Labour’s leadership turmoil will have no bearing on the publication of its teacher pay decision, as headteachers call for “urgent” clarity.

Following Keir Starmer’s resignation, Number 10 said the government will not announce any “new major policy or spending commitments” until a new prime minister is appointed.

The leadership upheaval has caused concern over when the long-awaited school teachers’ review body (STRB) report, and the government’s final decisions on teacher pay, will be revealed.

But the DfE has confirmed to Schools Week that current events will have no bearing on this process, and the report and pay decision will be published in “due course”.

A Department for Education (DfE) source said they were “working hard to get it out the door as quickly as possible”.

‘Urgent clarity needed’

The DfE recommended to the STRB that teacher pay should rise by 6.5 per cent between 2026-27 and 2028-29, weighted towards higher awards in the second two years.

Benedicte Yue, chief financial officer at River Learning Trust, said her trust is budgeting for a 2 per cent increase for next year based on this, but it is “already in a structural deficit position”.

Teachers account for around half of her trust’s costs.

She is braced for an increase “substantially higher” than 2 per cent but warned: “There is absolutely no headroom to absorb any unfunded pay award.”

It is not just the looming pay announcement causing friction, Yue added.

“We are simultaneously navigating a shrinking core funding envelope from falling pupil rolls, massive uncertainty around the structural impact of the SEND white paper, the financial implications of expanding free school meals, and the need to adjust to the PE grant last-minute changes.

“Operating with this many blind spots is unsustainable. We urgently need clarity.”

A return to Tory delays?

The STRB report provides recommendations and data to the government on teacher pay, workload, and other areas.

Ministers review the recommendations and typically announce the final decision on the same day as the report is published.

Under the Conservatives, the report and government decision were consistently published in mid-to-late July. The Labour government made clear it was keen to move away from this trend.

Shortly after taking power in 2024, the government’s first report and decision were published on July 29.

The new chancellor Rachel Reeves said at the time: “I do not want us to be in this position again.”

She vowed to “consider options to reform the timetable” for responding to pay review bodies.

In September that year, education secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote to the STRB urging it to deliver recommendations for the 2025-26 pay award “at the earliest point” possible, to help “return… to more timely annual pay processes”.

Last year’s report was published on May 22.

Report ‘on education secretary’s desk’

Multiple sources have suggested the report has been with the government for some months now.

Some hope the delay may be with a view to finding additional funding, to reduce the burden on schools.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said it was “deeply insulting to those heads working hard to balance the books that the STRB report and the government’s response still have not been published”.

He claimed it had been “almost four months since the report landed on Bridget Phillipson’s desk”.

“The government and Labour Party may be in turmoil, but head teachers still need to plan for September.”

His comments came as a poll of more than 4,000 NEU teacher members found 95 per cent believed their school would have difficulty affording the pay increases in September without extra funding.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of teaching union NASUWT, said the delays in publishing the STRB report “are creating uncertainty for teachers and undermining schools’ ability to set budgets and plan for the next academic year”.

Meanwhile Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “While we acknowledge the current political situation does not help matters, teachers and leaders really do need clarity as soon as possible.”

Decisions on support staff pay for next year are also yet to be confirmed.

Pension news causes more uncertainty

Skills minister Jacqui Smith revealed last week that, following a revaluation of the teachers’ pensions scheme, a “considerable reduction” to the amount schools contribute to teacher pensions is “highly likely”.

Teachers’ contributions and pension pots are not expected to be affected, but the change could bring savings for schools.

Schools Week understands that some or all of the savings could be clawed back by central government to fund other priorities, but this has not been confirmed.

Jonathan Simons, partner and head of education practice Public First, told Schools Week it “seems possible” a lower pension contribution “could help school bottom lines if that is partly redistributed into paying for pay”.

But Stephen Morales, chief executive of the Centre for Education Operational Excellence (CEOE), said “we need to know”.

He said the dual uncertainty over pay rises and pensions could lead to a “perfect storm of intelligence”, with schools over or under budget due to inaccurately predicting the savings they could make.

If left with less than expected, they could be forced to make “drastic cuts at exactly the wrong time”. Others could be taking an overly cautious approach to budgeting, and decide against making needed hires or investments, with “direct consequences for children”.