Responding to the government’s announcement of the teachers’ 2026-27 pay award and the publication of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body’s (IWPRB) recommendations, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said:

“It is appropriate that the Welsh Government has committed to fully funding the teachers’ pay award. However, they have chosen to ignore the recommendations of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body for the second year running, and have awarded teachers 3.5% instead of 4.25%. This makes a mockery of the pay review process.

“Plaid Cymru may have promised a new approach to government, but they are already making some of the same mistakes as their predecessors.

“The Welsh Government must listen to the voices of teachers and must begin to genuinely invest in the future of education.”

Neil Butler, National Official for Wales, said:

“For the second year running, we have a government that has not followed the recommendation of our country’s independent pay review body for teachers.  

“The IWPRB exists to advise on teachers’ pay and conditions following extensive and detailed research, with evidence taken from a wide range of education stakeholders in Wales. IWPRB recommendations are evidence-based, and they are there to counter the crisis we face in the recruitment and retention of teachers.

“Moves such as consulting on a single pay scale for teachers, and protections for leaders’ rest time, are crucial and welcome. But we must see this energy and promise in all areas of teachers’ pay and conditions in order to recruit and retain more teachers, and to offer pupils in Wales the world class education they deserve.

“The question for the Welsh Government is this: if you will not follow the recommendations of the IWPRB, what was the point of the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions to Wales?”