Responding to the publication of the STRB report, Matt Wrack, Acting General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union said:

“Teachers have been waiting for this announcement and it is welcome that the Government has published the report and its response early enough for the award to be applied from September.

“We also welcome that the STRB recommendation has recognised the need to increase pay by more than the 2.8% the Government proposed in its evidence and that this has been accepted.

“Teachers in the NASUWT will be wanting to assess the details and the Union will be carefully considering the implications of today’s announcement.

“We need to see long-term investment in education and there is a substantial risk that many schools will be placed in severe financial difficulty this year and next if any financial shortfall they experience is not addressed with extra funding."

“We have suggested ways the Government could raise revenue to pay for a fully-funded pay rise, including addressing the billions in tax not collected by HMRC, ending fossil fuel subsidies to raise over £2 billion a year and introducing a 2% wealth tax on assets worth over £10 million so those with the broadest shoulders play their part in helping to fund children’s’ education.

“Teachers and school leaders are looking to the Government to continue to provide the funding our children and young people need to thrive in a world-class education system the country can be proud of.”

The NASUWT has just published its Where Has All the Money Gone? report which looks in significant detail at the systemic issues raised over education funding and reveals how billions of pounds intended for education are being siphoned away from frontline teaching, leaving schools struggling while private firms and executives profit.