Teachers’ unions welcome pay increase while pledging to tackle workload

The largest teachers’ union in Northern Ireland has welcomed a 4% pay rise for the 2025/2026 year.

Some 87% of NASUWT members voted in favour of the consolidated cost-of-living pay award that will be backdated to September 1 2025.

The union’s leaders said their focus will now shift to reducing teachers’ “excessive workload”.

Education Minister Paul Givan said “extensive work” went into securing the pay rise which is in line with those granted to teachers in England and Wales.

In April last year, the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC), which represents the five main unions in the sector, accepted a 5.5% pay offer for 2024/25, ending their ongoing industrial action.

NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said the settlement is a “fair outcome” for teachers that “demonstrates what can be achieved through constructive negotiation, even under significant constraint”.

“However, fair pay is only one pillar of securing the teaching profession for the future.” he said.

“The Minister must now act with urgency to address the other core challenge, which is the scourge of excessive workload. ”

NASUWT national official Northern Ireland Justin McCamphill said the uplift in pay “matches the award in England, outpaces inflation and was secured without any detrimental conditions”.

He said: “With the pay issue now settled we will be turning our full and undivided attention to workload.

“Teachers need and deserve a sustained reduction in their unsustainable workloads. Progress on this agenda is non-negotiable and will be the measure of whether we secure long-term industrial peace.”

National Association Of Head Teachers (NAHT) Northern Ireland also voted in favour of the pay rise and its president Joanne Whyte acknowledged the Education Minister’s “efforts within the executive to make available the funds to provide this much-needed uplift”.

She said: “While this agreement provides some financial relief, it does not resolve the systemic challenges facing our profession.

“Our focus now turns to the host of other significant issues including, of course, the intolerable levels of school leader workload and shortfalls in school funding, both of which continue to undermine the sustainability of school leadership.”

Mr Givan said he is pleased that unions accepted the award.

He said: “The 4% pay settlement will see the starting salary for graduate teachers increasing to £32,916, with an experienced teacher at the top of the upper pay scale moving to £50,876.

“This brings teachers in Northern Ireland onto broadly comparable scales to their counterparts in England and Wales.

“Today’s pay award reflects the value that I place on those working in education, despite the severe financial issues facing education and the wider public sector in Northern Ireland.

“In addition to recognising their value through the pay award, I also want to assure teachers that I will respond to the independent review on teacher workload within the coming weeks.”

The pay increase of 4% will cost £38.3 million in 2025/26, with an annual ongoing cost of £65.6 million.