UK Public Sector Pay: Teachers, nurses, soldiers and more find out salary increase

Millions of teachers, NHS staff and other public sector workers have been told how much their pay will rise today.

Chancellor has accepted recommendations from independent pay review bodies (PRBs) on how much wages should increase in 2025/26 financial year.

Most doctors and dentists have been handed 4% pay awards plus a consolidated sum of £750, while nurses and staff on Agenda for Change contracts will see their pay go up by 3.6%. Consultants will also get a 4% salary uplift.

Teachers will receive a 4% award, while school staff including teaching assistants, caterers, admin staff and caretakers have been offered 3.2%.

Senior military (two-star rank and above) will receive a 3.75% increase to base pay, while other members of the will see their wages rise by 4.5%. Top civil servants will get a pay boost of 3.25% and prison officers will get 4%.

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The figure is higher than the 2.8% budgeted for and the Treasury has previously told Whitehall departments that they won't get extra cash to fund pay deals. Unions have warned that pay hikes must be fully-funded rather than paid for through stretched school and hospital budgets.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said £615 million of additional funding will be provided to schools this financial year to help them with the costs of pay, but heads will also be expected to find cash through improved productivity.

It comes after the Government ended a wave of public sector strikes last summer by accepting recommendations to increase public sector pay by between 4.75% and 6% for 2024-25. Doctors, nurses and teachers had been among those taking part in mass walkouts during Rishi Sunak's premiership.

Doctors leaders reacted with fury at the news, saying it did little to address 15 years of pay erosion. Chair of the BMA council, Professor Philip Banfield said: "No one wants a return to scenes of doctors on picket lines – we’d rather be in , in GP practices or in the community seeing patients, improving the health of the public – but today’s actions from the Government have sadly made this look far more likely.”

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the move from 2.8% to 4% for teachers was welcome but warned that it could force heads to make cuts.

He said: "Whilst we acknowledge and welcome additional funding to that initially offered by government, it is still the case that the pay award is not fully funded. In many schools this will mean cuts in service provision to children and young people, job losses, and additional workloads for an already overstretched profession."

Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the boost to teachers' pay but said school budgets were already stretched to breaking point.

He said: "If the government really thinks it will be possible to bridge this funding gap through ‘improved productivity and smarter spending’ then it is mistaken. Schools have already spent many years cutting costs to the bone and beyond.

“The most likely outcome is that there will be further cuts to educational provision.

Rachel Harrison, National Secretary, said: “We’re pleased dedicated NHS staff will get their pay rise closer to their anniversary date than they have in previous years. The decision on whether this pay award is acceptable is for GMB members to decide.”

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