The fully funded 5.5% pay award for school teachers for 2024/25 does not extend to the college sector. The government has said it does not set or recommend pay levels for colleges, but it has provided additional funding for sixth form college academies that can be used for pay awards.

Following a ballot by the National Education Union (NEU), members who teach in sixth form colleges will strike for seven days in November, December, and January over pay.

Background: 2024/25 school teacher pay award

Pay awards for teachers at maintained schools in England (schools funded and overseen by the local authority) are decided by the government. These awards follow recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), an independent body that advises on the pay, professional duties, and working time of school teachers in England.

On 29 July 2024, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced  teachers at maintained schools will receive a fully funded 5.5% pay award for 2024/25, following the recommendation of the STRB. Academy schools (run by trusts rather than local authorities) can set their own pay and conditions, but many will follow the STRB recommendations.

Pay in the further education sector

Pay arrangements in further education generally depend on whether teachers work in a maintained school or a college. Further education teachers working in maintained schools that offer 16 to 19 education, such as through a school sixth form, will receive the fully funded 5.5% pay award recommended by the STRB.

The government does not set or recommend pay levels for the college sector, and there is no independent pay review body. Further education and sixth form colleges in England make their own decisions on pay and conditions, using block funding from the government to fund awards. Many colleges follow recommendations made by the Association of Colleges (AoC), the sector representative body, which negotiates with the trade unions. For sixth form colleges, pay is negotiated annually with the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA).

The AoC has made a formal pay recommendation for the 2024/25 academic year of 2.5% or £750, whichever is greater. The AoC’s Chief Executive, David Hughes, said it was “forced to make a pay recommendation far below what we believe is needed, simply because colleges cannot afford more”.

The government can choose to provide more funding to colleges, which they can then use to help fund pay awards. This happened in 2023, when the government provided more money through the 16 to 19 funding formula. Sixth form college academies will also receive additional funding in 2024/25 to help with staff pay deals. On 25 September 2024, the government published details of the post-16 schools budget grant. This will allocate £63 million to eligible institutions, including “maintained schools and academy sixth forms”, to cover pay awards.

At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the government announced £300 million additional funding for further education. The Department for Education has said it will set out “in due course” how this funding will be distributed.

How does college pay compare to school pay?

According to an article published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), an economics think tank, college and school teacher pay has fallen in real (inflation-adjusted) terms since 2010/11. This has been especially prominent in recent years due to high inflation.

According to the IFS, the median salary for school teachers in 2023/24 was approximately £44,000, compared with £38,000 for full-time college teachers; a gap of £5,500 or 15%. This pay gap is set to widen. As a result of the 5.5% pay award for school teachers and recommended 2.5% increase for college teachers, the IFS has forecasted the gap in the 2024/25 academic year will be almost £7,000, or 18%. This is the largest on record.

Almost half of college teachers leave the profession within three years of starting, according to the IFS, with pay considered a key factor in recruitment and retention issues.

What has the government said?

In August 2024, in response to enquiries about college pay from the news publication FE Week, a Department for Education spokesperson noted a “very challenging” fiscal context, and said decisions on further education funding would be taken as part of the forthcoming multi-year Spending Review. The government has said the Spending Review will conclude in spring 2025.

In response to a parliamentary question in September 2024 on why the school teacher pay award did not extend to the college sector, the government said it did not set pay for further education teachers. It argued the UK’s fiscal situation meant it had to take “incredibly difficult decisions” about funding and highlighted the retention payments offered to early-career teachers in some subjects. The issue was also raised at Education Questions that month, where the government said it would keep further education pay “under review”.

On 12 November 2024, at the annual conference of the AoC, the Minister for Skills, Jacqui Smith, acknowledged the disappointment that colleges did not receive funding like schools to award staff the same 5.5% pay rise. She said she would like the pay of college and school teachers to be “matched”.

In the annual remit letter sent to the STRB in September 2024 (PDF), the Education Secretary told the STRB for the first time to consider the impact its pay recommendations for 2025/26 will have on the further education workforce.

How are college staff responding?

In September 2024, the National Education Union (NEU) balloted members who teach in sixth form colleges for strike action. It said the government should revisit the decision not to fund all sixth form colleges in relation to the 5.5% teacher pay rise. Members across 40 colleges were balloted, achieving a 62% turnout and a 97% vote in favour of action.

The NEU said it held off announcing strike dates while it sought “urgent clarification” from the government on whether the £300 million from the budget could be spent on staff pay. On 13 November, however, the NEU announced strikes across 32 colleges on the following dates in 2024:

  • 28 November
  • 3 December
  • 4 December

More dates were announced on 2 December 2024:

  • 13 December
  • 7 January
  • 8 January
  • 9 January

The Sixth Form Colleges Association is seeking a judicial review (PDF) of the decision to exclude its members from the 5.5% pay award, saying colleges, staff and students “simply cannot wait” for the Spending Review.

The University and College Union general secretary, Jo Grady, said the AoC’s pay recommendation of 2.5% was “hugely disappointing”, and teacher retention would get worse unless investment was made to close the pay gap between the further education and schools sectors. The AoC has said it will continue to lobby the government on pay and, if successful, it will reconvene negotiations with the unions.

 About the author: Joe Lewis and Harry Plaskitt are researchers at the House of Commons Library specialising in further and higher education. 

Photo by: Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash