England schools receive £500 million boost to avert teacher pay strike

The Department for Education has offered schools in England approximately £500 million in extra funding to cover the 3.5% teachers’ pay rise approved for this school year, a move intended to defuse a possible strike ballot by the National Education Union (NEU). The funding will be sourced from a 4.9-percentage-point reduction in employers’ contributions to the local government pension scheme, generating “significant savings” on support-staff pay that will not be reclaimed by central government.

NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede described the injection as a “significant” step and a sign of hope after warning that schools had been “running on empty.” An indicative NEU ballot in April showed 90% of voting teachers would support industrial action, with a formal ballot scheduled for 3 October to 15 December. Independent economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned many schools face a shortfall of around 1% between rising costs and current funding, and the new money could bring this year’s pay uplift in line with the 3% increase planned for the following year. The NEU’s national executive will meet on 24 September to decide whether to call off the ballot.