Resolution in sight as ‘historic’ pay offer made to teachers

*14.6% pay uplift over 28 months *

*Union recommends acceptance *

Teachers across Scotland have been offered the largest pay package in over twenty years, with most teachers seeing their salaries rise by £5,200 in April if the new pay offer is accepted. The EIS is to ballot its members on the latest pay offer to teachers, with a recommendation that the offer should be accepted.

The 28-month deal – the sixth offered to unions – has a cumulative value of 14.6% and would mean an overall increase of more than £6,100 for the 70% of classroom teachers who are at the top of their main grade pay scale.

It would amount to a cumulative rise of 33% for most teachers since January 2018 and would bring the starting salary for a fully qualified teacher – already the highest in the UK – to £38,650 after probation by January 2024.

The revised offer, agreed by the Scottish Government and COSLA, is:

  • 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 – a 7% uplift for all grades up to a ceiling of £80,000, where a cap of £5,600 (pro-rata) will apply
  • 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023 – a 5% uplift for all grades up to a ceiling of £80,000, where a cap of £4,000 (pro-rata) will apply
  • 1 January 2024 to 31 July 2024 – a 2% uplift for all grades up to a ceiling of £80,000, where a cap of £1,600 (pro-rata) will apply

Cumulatively, these amount to an uplift of 12.4% by April 2023 and 14.6% from 1 January 2024.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Teachers make an invaluable contribution to the lives of our children and young people. This historic offer, if accepted by unions, would see teacher pay increase by 33% from January 2018 to January 2024.

“We have looked for compromise and we have arrived at a deal that is fair, affordable, and sustainable for everyone involved. The Scottish Government is supporting this deal with total funding of over £320 million across this year and next.

“This reflects our commitment to reach a fair agreement and avoid further disruption to children and young people’s education.

“I hope that teaching unions will now give their members the opportunity to consider this new offer and to suspend the planned industrial action next week. This would minimise any further disruption to learning, particularly in the run up to the SQA exam diet.”

COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said: “We have reached a position today whereby we sincerely hope our Trade Union partners can take this revised offer to their membership for a vote.

“Scotland’s Council Leaders fully value all of their workforce and recognise the invaluable contribution teachers make to the lives of our children and young people.”

The EIS is to ballot its members on a revised pay offer to teachers that was presented yesterday by local authority employers, with a recommendation that the offer should be accepted.

The EIS is also suspending all planned industrial action while it ballots its members on the new offer.

A special meeting of the EIS Salaries Committee, comprised of teachers from across Scotland, has this evening unanimously agreed to ballot members on the new offer. The Committee also overwhelmingly agreed to recommend that members vote to accept the new pay offer.

Subsequent to the decision of the Salaries Committee, a special meeting of the EIS Executive Committee agreed to suspend all planned industrial action while members are consulted on the offer. The online ballot will open today (Friday) and run until 1000hrs on Friday 10th March.

Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “The view of our negotiators is that this deal represents the best that can be achieved in the current political and financial climate without a much more prolonged campaign of industrial action.

“It is through the determination and collective action of teachers and associated professionals across Scotland, led by EIS members, that we have improved this pay offer from an initial 2% for the current year to 7% for the current financial year, with additional increases of 5% and then 2% within the following financial year.

“This will result in the majority of teachers seeing a 12.3% increase on their current rate of pay by April of this year and by 14% by January 2024.”

Ms Bradley added, “This has been a long dispute which has been challenging for all concerned. Teachers have taken strike action as a last resort, and that strike action has delivered an improved pay offer that the EIS can credibly put to its members with a recommendation to accept.

“It is now for our members to decide whether to accept this offer, and it is our recommendation that they should do so.”

Pay offer details:

  Current Salary 2021/22 Salary following 1/4/22 7% increase Salary following 1/4/23 5% increase Salary following 1/1/24 2% increase 
Principles Point 8 £59,571.00 £63,741.00 £66,927.00 £68,265.54 
Probationers Main Scale Point 0 £28,113.00 £30,081.00 £31,584.00 £32,215.68 
Teachers Main Scale Point 1 £33,729.00 £36,090.00 £37,896.00 £38,653.92 
Teachers Main Scale Point 2 £35,643.00 £38,139.00 £40,047.00 £40,847.94 
Teachers Main Scale Point 3 £37,713.00 £40,353.00 £42,372.00 £43,219.44 
Teachers Main Scale Point 4 £40,107.00 £42,915.00 £45,060.00 £45,961.20 
Teachers Main Scale Point 5 £42,336.00 £45,300.00 £47,565.00 £48,516.30 
Music Instructors Point 6 £39,147.00 £41,886.00 £43,980.00 £44,859.60 
Educational Psychologist Point 6 £60,423.00 £64,653.00 £67,887.00 £69,244.74 
Principal Ed. Psych Point 9 £74,382.00 £79,590.00 £83,571.00 £85,171.00 
L Teach Point National £67,449.00 £72,171.00 £75,780.00 £77,295.60 
Heads & Deputes Point 1 £52,350.00 £56,016.00 £58,818.00 £59,994.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 2 £53,964.00 £57,741.00 £60,627.00 £61,839.54 
Heads & Deputes Point 3 £55,740.00 £59,643.00 £62,625.00 £63,877.50 
Heads & Deputes Point 4 £57,657.00 £61,692.00 £64,776.00 £66,071.52 
Heads & Deputes Point 5 £59,571.00 £63,741.00 £66,927.00 £68,265.54 
Heads & Deputes Point 6 £61,185.00 £65,469.00 £68,742.00 £70,116.84 
Heads & Deputes Point 7 £62,964.00 £67,371.00 £70,740.00 £72,154.80 
Heads & Deputes Point 8 £64,737.00 £69,270.00 £72,735.00 £74,189.70 
Heads & Deputes Point 9 £66,498.00 £71,154.00 £74,712.00 £76,206.24 
Heads & Deputes Point 10 £68,271.00 £73,050.00 £76,704.00 £78,238.08 
Heads & Deputes Point 11 £71,223.00 £76,209.00 £80,019.00 £81,619.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 12 £74,175.00 £79,368.00 £83,337.00 £84,937.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 13 £77,124.00 £82,524.00 £86,523.00 £88,123.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 14 £80,070.00 £84,870.00 £88,869.00 £90,469.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 15 £83,445.00 £88,245.00 £92,244.00 £93,844.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 16 £87,771.00 £92,571.00 £96,570.00 £98,170.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 17 £91,212.00 £96,012.00 £100,011.00 £101,611.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 18 £95,409.00 £100,209.00 £104,208.00 £105,808.00 
Heads & Deputes Point 19 £99,609.00 £104,409.00 £108,408.00 £110,008.00 

Teachers reject latest offer: planned strikes to go ahead

A special meeting of the EIS Salaries Committee, held online today, has unanimously rejected the latest revised pay offer from the Scottish Government and COSLA.

The new offer, announced in the media yesterday before it was given to teaching unions, offers only a marginal improvement on previously rejected offers. As a result, the EIS will reject the offer and continue with its current programme of strike action until a more credible offer is put onto negotiating table.

Commenting this afternoon, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “This is another inadequate offer to Scotland’s teachers, which was unanimously rejected by the EIS Salaries Committee earlier today.

“The 6% value of the offer for 2022-23 is insufficient, with CPI inflation currently sitting today at 10.5%. The 6% offer for this year is only 1% less of a pay cut than that previously offered, twice, by the Scottish Government and COSLA.

“Teachers have already lost more than 1% of their salaries through being forced into strike action so, essentially, teachers already more than paid for this revised offer themselves. This is just yet more smoke and mirrors from the Scottish Government and COSLA in attempting to make this offer appear more generous than it actually is.”

Ms Bradley continued, “The suggested year two component of 5.5% hasn’t been negotiated via the appropriate forum, the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), at all. Indeed, teaching unions haven’t even submitted our pay claim for 2023/24 yet, as a consequence of the current dispute.

“In attempting to tag on next year’s pay settlement, without any negotiation at all, the Scottish Government and COSLA are attempting to tie the hands not just of teacher trade unions but all public sector unions – and this is unacceptable to the EIS.”

Ms Bradley added, “The conduct of the Scottish Government and COSLA in this process has been equally unacceptable. From dragging the process out interminably, to seeking to create divisions both between different grades of teachers and different groups of workers, to seeking to bypass the agreed negotiating processes and sharing information on pay offers with the media before sharing them with the trade unions representing teachers – these have not been good-faith actions.

“Their emphasis throughout has been on spin rather than genuine attempts to reach an agreed pay settlement through proper negotiation.”

Ms Bradley went on to add, “As a result of the clear decision to reject this offer, taken by our Salaries Committee today, our Executive Committee has also unanimously agreed that the current programme of strike action will continue as scheduled.

“The EIS remains, as ever, willing and available to engage in further discussions with both the Scottish Government and COSLA, through the appropriate forum within the SNCT, to attempt to reach a resolution to this dispute.”

The EIS has emailed its members this afternoon, advising on the decisions to reject the offer and continue with strike action and the reasoning behind those decisions.

A copy of this email can be viewed here.