17/09/2026
KoinEd Mid-September Education Update
Headline: teacher pay rise now described as fully funded
The biggest story this week is teacher pay. Education Secretary Lucy Powell has written to NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede confirming that schools can use savings from lower pension contributions to fund pay rises.
Background: in July the government confirmed a 3.5 per cent rise for teachers from September 2026. About half (1.7 per cent) was to come from additional government funding, with schools expected to find roughly 1.8 per cent from existing budgets. The NEU had estimated this would leave schools needing to find around £460 million.
Powell’s letter states that revaluations to the Local Government Pension Scheme will reduce employer contribution rates by 4.9 percentage points, producing significant savings on support staff pay bills, and that this reduction will not be clawed back. The government stresses that the pay award itself is unchanged; the change is intended to make it more affordable for schools.
Reaction: the NEU, which was due to open a formal strike ballot in about two and a half weeks, called the move a significant step, and its executive will discuss its response on 24 September. The NAHT welcomed the change but said it will need to check whether the rise is genuinely fully funded at individual school level. That caveat matters most for schools with a small support staff bill or staff outside the LGPS.
Political backdrop
There is a new Prime Minister and a new Education Secretary. NASUWT has said Burnham’s first budget must raise education spending, warning of unfunded promises and claiming that one in four schools cannot afford pay rises. Lucy Powell took her first Education Questions in the Commons this week. For the opposition, Reform says it will set out its education plans in due course; Suella Braverman’s conference speech focused on culture-war themes.
SEND
• Schools Week has launched a transparency project publishing councils’ draft local SEND reform plans.
• The draft plans indicate that shortages of expert staff are a key threat to the £1.8bn reform programme.
• Hackney council has warned its SEND deficit could double if it pays private costs, following a challenge from Orthodox Jewish schools over funding for pupils without EHCPs.
Ofsted
• Almost 1,000 school leaders, from more than 180 trusts and school groups, have been put forward for Ofsted’s peer inspector pilot.
• Ofsted will pilot a new complaints process intended to bring greater independent oversight. Ruth Perry’s sister described the plan as barely an improvement.
Assessment and outcomes
• PISA 2025: scores rose across the board for England, but a gender gap has opened in science.
• Primary attainment: the disadvantage gap has widened.
• KS2 data error: the DfE apologised to heads after assigning some pupils to the wrong prior attainment group; heads say it created unnecessary pressure.
Funding
• A new report warns that schools have lost £4.5 billion to real-terms cuts over 16 years.
• The Education Policy Institute proposes retraining teachers of other subjects to A-level standard in physics, arguing this is far cheaper than raising bursaries.
Other news
• Ian Bauckham is stepping down as chair of Oak National Academy; multi-academy trust leader Tom Campbell takes over next month.
• New school food standards have been published.
• Ministers say new school uniform guidance will be issued this year.
• Former Conservative minister Diana Barran has been named chair of Greenshaw Learning Trust.
• A KS3 alliance is seeking evidence on the transition from primary to secondary school.
• A poll suggests parents are now less likely to feel involved in their children’s education, with one in five lacking information on supporting home learning.
Looking ahead
The pay story was still marked as breaking news, so further detail is likely in the coming days. The NEU executive meets on 24 September to decide its response on the strike ballot.
