GovWire

School teachers and leaders will receive a fully funded 5.5% pay award, reflecting the vital contribution they make to childrens life chances.

The decision means the recommendations of the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) have been accepted in full.

Schools will receive almost 1.2billion in additional funding to cover their costs, fully funding the pay award for teachers and support staff in financial year 2024-25 at a national level.

The investment marks an important step on the path towards the governments pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers.

As the Chancellor has set out, the poor position of the public finances means that a number of programmes must be cancelled across government including the Advanced British Standard.

Todays pay award reflects the value the government places on the countrys six million public servants, and the cost to the country of not accepting public sector pay awards.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

The Chancellor has laid out a grim picture our public finances are in a devastating state and tough choices need to be made to help rebuild the foundations of the economy.

But while the impact teachers have on children and young peoples life chances cant be measured in pounds and pence, those working in education must be in no doubt about their value.

Teachers lay the foundations of childrens lives. An investment in them is an investment in the next generation, and this government is determined to make sure every child - whatever their background - has the opportunity to succeed.

The Education Secretary has recognised the delay in confirming pay and funding arrangements for next year due to the timing of the general election.

The 5.5% award will apply from 1 September and is equivalent to an increase of over 2,500 for the average teacher, which would take the median salary for 2024/25 to over 49,000.

The pay award applies to maintained schools, with academies continuing to have freedom over their pay and conditions.

The government is also today announcing further steps to reduce teachers workload, reset relations with the sector and make teaching an attractive profession again.

Alongside the pay award, the requirement for schools to use the performance related pay (PRP) system which can lead to schools and teachers going through an overly bureaucratic process to agree individual teachers pay rises will be removed from September.

The government will also clarify that teachers can carry out their planning time at home, improving flexible working for staff.

Todays award builds on the Education Secretarys work to reset the relationship with education workforces since taking up post, including a letter to all education workers in week one in the role, a reception with almost 200 stakeholders, and a webinar with up to 14,000 front line staff.