‘Disappointment’ as Teachers' 2024/25 pay offer rejected for a second time

The Management Side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee has expressed disappointment that the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC) has rejected a pay offer for a second time.

The latest offer included:

• A 5.5% cost of living award for all teachers from 1 September 2024*

• A 5.5% increase on Teaching and Special Needs allowances

• A commitment to jointly deliver over 25 measures to address workload concerns

• A commitment that future pay offers would be made by no later than January of the same financial year

The rejected pay offer was at a full year cost of £83 million and followed on from the teachers’ pay

offer agreed in April 2024 which saw the starting salary for teachers raised by almost 25% and other

teachers pay by 12.5% at a cost of £170 million a year.

The pay award would have seen a starting teacher earn £31,650 and a teacher at the top of the upper pay scale receive £48,919.

The latest pay offer followed intensive dialogue between Management Side and the NITC after the

rejection of an initial offer in January.

Robbie McGreevy, Vice Chair of Management Side, said:

"We are extremely disappointed that despite presenting a fair and comprehensive package, and

responding to the issues raised by Trade Unions during the negotiations, the NITC has rejected this

offer. This means not only will the substantial pay increase for teachers not be progressed, but our joint commitment to address workload concerns through 25 agreed measures also cannot move forward."

"Our primary concern is ensuring pupils can learn in an environment free from disruption and teachers receive fair pay. The offer was made at the absolute limits of affordability, against an extremely challenging financial background, and is comparable to pay offers accepted by other public sector workers and teachers elsewhere. Continued industrial action will inevitably have serious implications for children's education."

Management Side has urged the NITC to suspend industrial action and to outline how this dispute

can be brought to an end.

Mr McGreevy added:

"We cannot accept a situation where teachers are not fulfilling their full contractual duties. Industrial action should not become common practice and only ever be a last resort.

"Action Short of Strike has disrupted our education system for nearly a decade, making Northern Ireland the only UK jurisdiction without proper assessment and inspection systems. This has severely impacted our ability to gather data on school performance and has restricted vital aspects of school life including parent communications, extra-curricular activities, and staff development."

Management Side will meet urgently to consider next steps following this rejection.

Pay Offer

• *The 5.5% cost of living pay award is above inflation (current rate of inflation is 2.7%).

• The full offer is available at https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/news/revised-20242025-teachers-pay-offer

• Under this offer the starting salary for teachers would rise to £31,650, backdated to 1 September 2024, while a full-time teacher on Upper Pay Scale Point 3 would receive £1,913.25 in back pay (before statutory deductions) for the period from 1 September 2024 to 31 May 2025.