The 3.5% increase, recommended by the School Teachers Review Body (STRB), will apply from 1 September 2026.
The pay award applies to all maintained schools. Academies can choose to follow it.
The 2026/27 pay award for school support staff has not yet been agreed.
The pay award will be partially funded
Schools will be expected to cover the first 1% of each pay award through "continued efforts to maximise value from their budgets".
Get advice on how to budget for expenditure on staffing in our other article.
The government hasn't yet given specific details on other funding sources for the pay award.
More changes are planned
From September 2027, teachers' and leaders' pay is expected to increase by a further 3%, bringing the total increase to 6.5% over the next 2 years.
Next steps
We'll