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The Government has confirmed the 2026/2027 teacher pay awards, accepting the School Teachers' Review Body’s (STRB) recommendations in full. Teachers and leaders will receive a 3.5% pay increase from 1 September 2026, followed by a 3% increase from 1 September 2027, providing greater certainty for workforce and financial planning over the next two years.
Whilst the announcement provides welcome certainty for workforce and financial planning, schools and trusts will still need to carefully consider how the awards are implemented. Although additional funding has been announced, schools will be expected to fund the first 1% of each pay award through efficiencies within existing budgets, meaning affordability will remain a key consideration for many schools and trusts.
The Government has also announced significant changes to academy trust executive pay governance. From September 2026, trusts will be required to obtain Department for Education approval before advertising or appointing to executive posts with a salary of £174,000 or above. Alongside this, trusts are expected to maintain a robust executive pay policy, ensure remuneration decisions are evidence-based, independently scrutinised and fully documented, and demonstrate that pay is transparent, proportionate and represents value for money. The Government has also introduced a presumption that executive pay awards should not exceed those awarded to teachers unless there is a clear and justifiable business case
Schools and trusts should be reviewing their arrangements to ensure they are ready for September, including:
Considering the financial impact of the awards as part of wider budget and workforce planning
Ensuring teaching and leadership pay scales are updated
Planning annual pay review and progression processes
Reviewing Pay Policies to ensure they remain compliant with the latest statutory guidance
Liaising with payroll providers to ensure they are prepared to implement pay changes.
In addition Trust Boards and Remueration Committees should ensure any decisions relating to CEO and executive leadership pay are evidence-based, independently informed where appropriate, appropriately challenged and fully documented in line with the latest DfE expectations.
The NJC support staff pay award has not yet been agreed. National negotiations remain ongoing and once confirmed, any award is expected to be backdated to 1 April 2026.
The Department for Education has published its long-awaited response to the consultation on the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB), marking another significant step towards a new national framework for school support staff in England.
The SSSNB will be responsible for negotiating national pay and conditions, while also advising on training and career progression for school support staff across maintained schools and academies. The Government has confirmed that the body is expected to be formally established during Autumn 2026.
Importantly, employers do not need to take any immediate action. Existing pay and conditions arrangements will continue throughout the 2026/27 financial year, with any new nationally agreed arrangements not expected to take effect until 2027/28 at the earliest. It has been confirmed that the body will look to establish minimum statutory terms and conditions for support staff directly employed by local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts. However employers will continue to have the flexibility to offer more than statutory minimums, to ensure that they can respond to local needs and labour market conditions.
The Government has also clarified that the SSSNB will cover directly employed school support staff—including those working in academy trust central functions where they support schools—but will not include executive leaders and senior trust staff with strategic responsibilities nor will it initially extend to agency workers.
What this means for employers: While there is no immediate requirement to amend contracts or pay structures, trusts and schools should continue to monitor developments. The SSSNB has the potential to reshape support staff pay, terms and conditions over the coming years, making it an important area for workforce planning and budgeting.
We will continue to keep clients updated as further guidance and secondary legislation are published.
Our experienced team works with schools and trusts across the country, providing practical HR advice, independent executive pay reviews, policy updates and governance support to ensure pay decisions are compliant, evidence-based and aligned with current statutory guidance. We'll also continue to keep clients informed as soon as the NJC support staff pay award is confirmed.
For strategic insight into what the pay awards mean for workforce planning, organisational design and culture, we also recommend reading Sarah Monk, Chief Strategy Officer, Edwin, companion article, "Teacher Pay Awards 2026 & 2027: Why this is really a people strategy, culture and organisational design conversation."