The teachers’ panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) has today unanimously decided to accept the terms of a pay offer made by local authorities’ body Cosla.
Scotland’s biggest teaching union, the EIS, described this as a “pragmatic decision” that gives teachers “certainty” for two years.
The SNCT confirmed that the deal comprises the following:
- A 4 per cent uplift on all SNCT pay points from 1 August 2025, rising to 4.25 per cent from 1 April 2026.
- A 3.25 per cent uplift on all SNCT pay points from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027.
- A commitment to negotiate a “reopener clause” for year two (1 August 2026 to July 2027), to build in inflation protection; the teachers’ panel and Cosla want to conclude negotiations on this by the end of 2025.
EIS members vote to accept pay offer
Shortly after the SNCT teachers’ panel announced the news, the EIS revealed the result of a ballot on pay that took place over recent days.
On a 58 per cent turnout, 96 per cent of members accepted the pay offer and 4 per cent rejected it.
Des Morris, EIS salaries chair of the SNCT teachers’ panel, described the acceptance of the pay deal as “a pragmatic decision, which will provide certainty on pay for Scotland’s teachers for a two-year period”.
He said that “we are drawing a line under the issue of pay at the current time and moving to prioritise other key issues for our members, not least the ongoing formal SNCT dispute on reducing weekly class-contact time”.
Call to pay up before Christmas
Mr Morris added: “It is unfortunate that negotiations on pay have, once again, led to teachers receiving their pay rise late this year.
“The SNCT teachers’ panel urges all local authorities to now display greater alacrity in ensuring that the pay deal is fully implemented, and that teachers receive both their pay rise and all backdated money owed to them prior to the Christmas break.”
The SNCT teachers’ panel, in a statement late this afternoon, said that it wished to “clearly and overtly restate its commitment to the longer-term restoration of the real-terms value of teachers’ pay and welcomes the reference within the offer letter to this objective”.
It added that it was a “unanimous view that much more is required in future years to ensure that the erosion in the value of teachers’ pay since 2008 is fully addressed”.
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “I am delighted that teachers have accepted this pay offer, which ensures that Scottish classroom teachers on the main-grade scale continue to be the best paid in the UK.
“I am particularly pleased that many teachers may now benefit from their backdated pay award ahead of Christmas. However, we should be achieving pay settlements for teachers earlier in the year, so I hope we can use the time this extended pay deal provides to explore how we might improve the process for the future.”
Strike ballot over class-contact time
A few hours after the pay deal announcement, details emerged of an EIS ballot on potential strike action in the dispute on class-contact time.
The SNP promised in its 2021 election manifesto to reduce contact time from 22.5 to 21 hours per week, but EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said the government had “delivered absolutely nothing”.
EIS members will be able to vote from today until 14 January on potential action, with the union’s leadership pushing for teachers to back both strike action and action short of a strike.
Any industrial action would likely be taken before next May’s Scottish Parliament election.
Ms Bradley said: “It is simply not acceptable for national or local politicians to be elected on the promise of improving education, in this case by tackling teacher workload and employing more teachers, then failing to deliver upon those promises, particularly when issues around teacher workload and precarity of employment are so serious.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are committed to working with teaching unions and Cosla to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class-contact time at pace.
“Ministers respect union members’ right to withdraw their labour, but are disappointed that the EIS has taken this action while these constructive discussions are ongoing.”
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