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The UK government has provided English schools with an additional £500 million to fund a 3.5% pay increase for teachers this year, reducing the risk of a strike by the National Education Union (NEU). This funding comes from savings in local government pension schemes and addresses concerns that schools lacked sufficient funds to cover the raise without cutting other expenses. The NEU's general secretary, Daniel Kebede, views the additional money as a significant step forward, though the union will meet on September 24th to decide if it is enough to cancel an impending strike ballot.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In a bid to prevent potential teacher strikes, schools in England are receiving around £500 million in additional funding from the government. The National Education Union (NEU), which had threatened strike action due to concerns over how teachers' pay increases would be funded, welcomed this move as significant progress. Initially, schools were expected to fund part of the 3.5% pay increase for teachers out of their own budgets; however, NEU leaders strongly objected to this plan, arguing it was unfair to expect schools to cover a substantial portion of the wage rise from existing funds. The government has now decided to use savings from reduced contributions to the local government pension scheme to fully fund the pay raise, alleviating concerns about strike action planned for next month. This shift in policy follows weeks of negotiations between the NEU and the Department for Education led by current Secretary Lucy Powell, who replaced Bridget Phillipson during these discussions.
Written for “Teacher Pay Funding Deal England” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.30, but none of the 2 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 13757: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-16
- Published
Schools in England are to get around £500 million in extra funding towards the teachers' pay award this school year, reducing the risk of a strike ballot by the largest education union.
asserted
Schools → publish → union
Schools had been expected to fund some of the 3.5% teachers pay increase for the current school year out of their existing budgets, which National Education Union (NEU) leaders had strongly objected to.
asserted
leaders → expect → which
Daniel Kebede, the General Secretary of the NEU, said the offer of more funding was a "significant" step in negotiations.
asserted
offer → say → negotiations
In a letter to the union on Wednesday, which has been seen by the BBC, the government said the increase would be funded by savings in employers' contributions to the local government pension scheme.
asserted
increase → see → scheme
The letter said the 4.9 percentage point drop in what employers are expected to contribute will deliver "significant savings" on the pay bill for support staff, which will not be clawed back by central government.
asserted
which → say → government
The National Education Union said it expected the extra money to be around £500m, which schools can now use towards teachers pay this year.
asserted
schools → say → pay
In July, ministers accepted the recommendation of the independent pay review body for teachers and agreed a 3.5% increase from September 2026 would be followed by 3% the following year.
asserted
increase → accept → %
The pay increase had been partly funded by an additional £700m for 2026-27 and £1.1bn for the following year.
asserted
increase → fund → year
Independent economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that left schools facing a shortfall of around 1% between rising costs and funding this year.
asserted
that → say → costs
The additional money could potentially bring the uplift for this year into line with next year.
uncertain
money → bring → year
Kebede said schools has been "running on empty" and the funding signalled "a welcome return to reality, and a message of hope for the entire school community".
asserted
funding → say → community
In an indicative ballot by the NEU in April, 90% of teachers who voted said they would be prepared to take industrial action over funding and pay, on a turnout of 48%.
asserted
they → vote → %
A formal ballot was due to begin on 3 October and close 15 December, raising the prospects of teachers pay strikes early in 2027.
asserted
ballot → begin → 2027
The national executive of the NEU will meet on 24 September to consider whether to call that off following the additional funding on offer from the government.
asserted
executive → meet → government
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