Teacher Pay Rise: How Awards Work

Who actually decides teacher pay

Teacher pay in England is not settled across a bargaining table the way most public sector pay is. It runs through a review body process created by the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Act 1991. Four bodies matter, and they have very different levels of power.

The key asymmetry: the STRB's recommendation makes headlines every summer, but it has no legal force. The only number that matters is the one printed in the STPCD after the Secretary of State signs off. In recent years the government has accepted the recommendation in full, but the power to depart from it is real and has been used before — which is why union campaigns focus on the remit letter as much as the final report. We track the review body itself in our STRB guide.

The annual pay round, step by step

The cycle repeats every year on a predictable rhythm. Knowing where you are in it tells you when news is likely and when your payslip will change.

1. Autumn — remit letter. The Department for Education writes to the STRB setting out what it wants examined for the following year, usually alongside evidence from unions asking for far more.
2. Spring — evidence and report. Unions, local authorities and the DfE submit written evidence; the STRB holds oral sessions and publishes its report, typically between March and May.
3. Early summer — government decision. The Secretary of State accepts or amends the recommendation, usually announced in July alongside the funding settlement for schools.
4. Late August — STPCD published. The new document lands shortly before the school year starts, giving maintained schools no discretion to delay.
5. September — first payslips. The award takes effect from 1 September; some payroll teams apply it to the September payslip, others pay it as arrears in October.

The 2026/27 award: 3.5% from 1 September

For 2026/27 the government accepted the STRB's recommendation of 3.5% and applied it to every point of every range — main, upper, unqualified, lead practitioner and leadership. Because the award is percentage-based, the cash value grows as you move up the scale. Here is what it means at the points most teachers occupy.

London fringe, outer London and inner London scales all received the same percentage uplift, so the cash value there is proportionally larger. To see the effect on your own take-home pay — including tax, National Insurance and pension — use the teacher pay calculator.

Why your rise is bigger than the headline

Most teachers receive two increases in the same September: the national award and movement up the scale. Teachers on the main pay range normally progress one point each year until they reach M6, subject to performance arrangements in the school's pay policy. The two stack multiplicatively.

Take a teacher moving from M3 to M4 in September 2026. M3 was £38,400 after last year's award; applying 3.5% gives £39,744, and the move to the new M4 point takes them to £40,940. Their actual rise is about 6.6%, not 3.5%. This stacking effect is why many teachers feel the headline number understates their own experience — and why teachers already at the top of the upper pay range feel the opposite, since they get the flat award only unless they successfully apply for UPS progression or a leadership role.

Supply teachers, and anyone paid pro-rata on the daily rate calculated from the scale, see the same percentage flow through their day rate once the STPCD updates.

Recent awards in context

The size of the annual teacher pay increase has swung sharply over the last few years, driven by inflation, industrial action and recruitment problems. Context matters when you judge whether 3.5% is generous: cumulative awards below CPI left real pay well below its 2010 level even after the bigger settlements of 2023 and 2024.

The 2026 settlement was unusual because it covered more than one year: the government and unions described it as a two-year deal worth around 6.6% across 2026/27 and 2027/28 combined, which implies a further rise of roughly 3% in September 2027. The precise figure for 2027/28 will be confirmed when the next STPCD is drafted, so treat it as indicative until the document is signed.

When the rise actually reaches your payslip

Legally the new rates apply from 1 September. Operationally, three things determine when you see the money:

• Payroll cut-off dates. If the STPCD is published after your school's payroll run closes, the September payslip may still show old figures.
• Arrears payments. Many schools backdate the difference into the October or November payslip as a separate line.
• Your contract type. Teachers paid in twelve equal monthly instalments see a clean uplift; those paid on variable or daily-rate contracts see it in the day rate.

If November arrives and your salary still matches the old scale, chase it formally. Maintained schools have no discretion to postpone the award, and academy trusts that claim to follow the STPCD should honour it too. A quick comparison using the current pay scale tables is usually enough evidence to get it fixed.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

The STRB process covers England and Wales jointly for some purposes, but the devolved governments now make their own decisions. Wales has generally mirrored English awards in recent years while running its own negotiations through the Welsh Negotiating Committee. Scotland sits outside this system entirely: teacher pay there is negotiated between the Scottish Government and councils through the SNCT and COSLA machinery, and the Scottish teacher pay rise timetable differs. Northern Ireland negotiates separately again, and its scale remains the lowest of the four nations.

Practically, this means a 'UK teacher pay rise' headline is always really four stories. If you teach in England, only the STPCD figure matters for your contract if you work in a maintained school.

Academies: bound in practice, not in law

Academy trusts are not legally required to follow the STPCD. They must have a documented pay policy, and most choose to mirror the national ranges because deviating makes recruitment harder — but some use the flexibility to pay above scale for shortage subjects, to slow progression, or in rare cases to set their own structures entirely.

Two practical checks matter if you are in a trust. First, read the trust's pay policy for how it treats the annual award: some adopt it automatically, others reserve the decision to trustees each autumn. Second, check whether your contract references the Burgundy Book and STPCD explicitly; if it does, you have a contractual argument even where the statutory duty does not apply.

What to do while you wait for the next round

Between announcements, three moves protect your position better than watching the news. Check your placement on the scale against the published ranges each September, because errors are common and rarely corrected unless challenged. Model what the award does to your take-home pay rather than your gross salary — a £1,500 gross rise is worth roughly £90–£100 a month after deductions for a mid-scale teacher, depending on pension tier and student loan plan. And if you are within reach of the upper pay range or leadership spines, the award compounds those thresholds too, which changes the arithmetic of applying for promotion. Our financial planning hub walks through each of these decisions in order.