Teacher pay will rise by 3.5 per cent from September 2026, but schools will be on the hook for part of the cost. The government鈥檚 long-awaited response to the (STRB) report for 2026 confirms a rise of at least 3.5 per cent from September for all school teachers. Some staff on the unqualified pay scale will receive larger rises following government plans to lift the bottom of the scale by 5 per cent. Teachers will then receive a further 3 per cent pay rise from September next year. But despite unions threatening to strike unless the rise is fully funded, the government has confirmed schools will be expected to fund around a third of teacher and support staff awards from existing budgets. Support staff were recently offered a rise of 3.3 per cent, backdated to April. This will mean schools will have to find about 拢460 million from their budgets, the National Education Union (NEU) estimates. The DfE said that schools, 鈥渓ike the rest of the public sector”, will need to 鈥減lay their part鈥 and find the first 1 per cent of each pay award 鈥渢hrough continued efforts to maximise value from their budgets鈥. To fund the remaining 2.5 per cent of the 2026 pay rises, schools will receive additional funding of 拢700 million to cover September to March next year, rising to 拢1.1 billion for the full 2027-28 financial year. This additional funding will come from existing DfE budgets, said Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary. Funding for the 2027 pay rise has not been confirmed. No review mechanism The STRB rejected a review mechanism for the proposed 2027 award, which it said 鈥渃ould mitigate economic shocks, but may create uncertainty for financial and workforce planning鈥. It instead said that if economic or labour market conditions diverged significantly from forecasts, it should be reflected in the remit for the 2028 award. It proposed an indicative rise of 3 per cent in 2028-29, but this would be decided in the future. If it went ahead, this would mean a total increase of 9.8 per cent over three years. In its initial evidence to the STRB, the DfE had called for a 6.5 per cent pay rise, spread over three years. It said schools would be expected to 鈥渞ealise and sustain better value from existing spend鈥 to help deliver this. But modelling by the department later showed schools would be able to afford a rise of just 2.7 per cent over the next two years. Phillipson said the multi-year deal for teachers, 鈥渂acked by significant additional investment, shows the immense value we place in our teachers, while giving schools and colleges certainty over pay and their budgets鈥. Whether the announcement will be enough to hold off strike action remains to be seen. The NEU previously said it would formally ballot for strike action in October if the government did not provide a 鈥渇ully funded pay offer鈥hat exceeds inflation鈥, with 鈥渟ufficient funding for schools to prevent redundancies and rises in workload鈥. An NEU spokesperson said the union was 鈥渃onsidering all options鈥. Inflation forecast to rise As of May, UK inflation sat at 2.8 per cent, but latest Bank of England modelling shows it could rise as high as 3.7 per cent by the end of this year as the economic effects of the Middle East conflict are felt.. Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the NEU, said: 鈥淟et us be clear: a partially funded settlement still means cuts to education, and the NEU will never accept that. 鈥淲ith inflation set to rise, members know this offer is not the decisive shift needed to reverse real-terms pay cuts since 2010 or restore the competitiveness of teacher pay.鈥 Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT, said the union would consider its next steps. 鈥淎ll options, including possible industrial action, remain on the table.鈥 The STRB typically makes pay recommendations on an annual basis, but this year ministers asked it to make a multi-year recommendation to help schools with longer-term budget planning. Last year, the government accepted the STRB鈥檚 recommendation of a 4 per cent pay rise for September 2025. It provided additional funding of 拢615 million to help cover this, but ordered schools to meet about one quarter of that rise from their own budgets. Pepe Di鈥橧asio, the general secretary of the leaders鈥 union ASCL, welcomed the pay awards and the 鈥済reater certainty鈥 brought about by a two-year announcement. But he said it had been 鈥渦ndermined鈥by how late in the summer term” it has come. Award should be earlier Under the previous government, pay announcements were consistently made in July, but the Labour government vowed to bring these forward. 鈥淲e really need to return to a timetable that is completed much earlier in the academic year,鈥 Di鈥橧asio said. He said the union would speak to leaders as finding the cash to help fund pay rises would be 鈥渧ery challenging for many schools鈥. Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the leaders鈥 union NAHT, said while there was 鈥渟ome way to go to achieve our aim of restoring the value of pay to 2010 levels鈥, the uplift was a step in the right direction 鈥渟o long as we don鈥檛 see a big spike in inflation鈥. As revealed by Schools Week this week, the government has also announced plans to control academy trust executive pay. From September, trusts will need to seek government approval before advertising roles over 拢174,000, or awarding performance-related bonuses over 拢25,000. The DfE says this would 鈥渂ring鈥he sector in line with other public sector workforces including the NHS and colleges鈥. But the 拢174,000 rule will only apply to new appointments, advertised from September 1. The pay of incumbent chief executives will not be cut. Annual pay increases 鈥渨ill also be brought in line with the wider school workforce, meaning executives will not be able to receive pay rises higher than those set for classroom teachers鈥. 鈥淎 start鈥ut not enough鈥 Phillipson said it was 鈥渁lso right鈥 that executive pay did not rise faster than teacher pay 鈥 鈥渙r set at excessive levels in the first place鈥. Tighter controls would end 鈥渦njustifiable鈥 executive salaries, helping to level the playing field for school staff and 鈥渄rive every pound towards classrooms鈥. Kebede described the cap as 鈥渁 start, but鈥ot enough鈥, highlighting that it would not apply to those already on salaries above 拢174,000. Stacey Booth, a national officer for the union GMB, said limiting trust CEO pay was 鈥渃ommon sense and common decency鈥. But she added that 鈥渢he proof will be in the pudding鈥. However, Leora Cruddas, the chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, criticised the changes, which she said the government 鈥渁ppears to have rushed into鈥ithout consulting with school trusts to understand their impact鈥. She said while trusts must be careful with the money they received from the government, the cap harmed trusts鈥 ability to recruit and retain strong leaders. Phillipson asked the STRB to look at the current working hours for teachers and leaders. Directed time in teachers鈥 pay and conditions stipulates that they cannot be 鈥渄irected鈥 to work more than 1,265 hours across the school year. In reality, average working hours are much greater. In proposed a 鈥渢win track鈥 approach, including 鈥渋mmediate clarity and governance measures鈥 within the current framework. These include INSET day flexibility, such as twilight sessions and split-day training. In its second approach, this time on leader working time protections, the STRB said the government should reinforce the existing work-life balance clause, including the right to uninterrupted breaks and clarifying that requirements for weekend work should be exceptional and limited to emergencies. DfE officials will consider the full scope of the wider views and suggestions in future policy development, Phillipson said. Some of the remaining ideas include stronger part-time protections and guidance on reasonable additional hours. After 鈥渃areful consideration鈥, the DfE has retained the current salary safeguarding provision for teachers and leaders. Teachers whose pay is due to decrease because of a change in circumstances, school restructure or move to a different school under the same employer, at present have their pay topped up to its old level for three years. The STRB recommended this be reduced to at least one academic year. 鈥淚f a change which gives rise to salary safeguarding is implemented after the commencement of an academic year, salary safeguarding should apply for the remainder of the academic year in which the change is implemented, plus the following full academic year.鈥 But Phillipson did accept a recommendation to allow maintained schools to optionally offer 鈥渕odest recognition schemes鈥. Academies already had greater flexibilities, such as offering recruitment or performance bonuses.