A major teaching union has launched a snap poll on the latest teacher pay offer.

The NEU teaching union has said today that it will consult members this month on the government’s latest pay award for teachers and school leaders in England.

The Department for Education announced in July that teachers and school leaders will get a 5.5 per cent pay rise for 2024-25.

Schools will receive an additional £1.2 billion to fund the pay rise, the government confirmed at the time.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said that it was members’ strike action last year that “won the argument for teacher pay to be addressed”.

Last year, the government accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 6.5 per cent pay rise from September 2023. The deal came after a long-running dispute over pay and months of strike action by teachers.

The union has recommended that members accept the offer for 2024-25, which Mr Kebede described as a “significant first step toward a long-term correction in pay”.

However, he warned that the government should be “under no illusion that a single pay deal is an end to the matter”.

The decision comes after teacher-members voted against moving to a formal ballot for strike action over pay and funding in the summer term, with members instead opting to wait until a formal pay offer was made.

The poll will run from 21-30 September and asks one question: “Do you accept or reject the government’s 5.5 per cent pay offer?”

The NEU held a special executive meeting on 5 August at which it was agreed to recommend that members accept the offer.

The vote is being done by email or text and will be sent to approximately 300,000 members who are serving teachers in state schools in England.

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