'Historic pay offer' put to Scotland's teachers

Teachers across Scotland have another new pay offer to consider.

The Scottish Government claim it's the "largest pay package in over twenty years with most teachers seeing their salaries rise by £5,200 in April if the new pay offer is accepted."

They say it represents a 14.6% pay uplift over 29 months.

An renewed offer was agreed this afternoon by the Scottish Government and COSLA.

This is what they say it includes:

• 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 – a 7% uplift for all grades up to a ceiling of £80,000, where a cap of £5,600 (pro-rata) will apply

• 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023 – a 5% uplift for all grades up to a ceiling of £80,000, where a cap of £4,000 (pro-rata) will apply

• 1 January 2024 to 31 July 2024 – a 2% uplift for all grades up to a ceiling of £80,000, where a cap of £1,600 (pro-rata) will apply

The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association is to put the offer to it's members and say they'll put industrial action "to one side" in the meantime.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“Teachers make an invaluable contribution to the lives of our children and young people. This historic offer, if accepted by unions, would see teacher pay increase by 33% from January 2018 to January 2024.

“We have looked for compromise and we have arrived at a deal that is fair, affordable, and sustainable for everyone involved. The Scottish Government is supporting this deal with total funding of over £320 million across this year and next.

“This reflects our commitment to reach a fair agreement and avoid further disruption to children and young people’s education.

“I hope that teaching unions will now give their members the opportunity to consider this new offer and to suspend the planned industrial action next week. This would minimise any further disruption to learning, particularly in the run up to the SQA exam diet.”

COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said:

“We have reached a position today whereby we sincerely hope our Trade Union partners can take this revised offer to their membership for a vote.

“Scotland’s Council Leaders fully value all of their workforce and recognise the invaluable contribution teachers make to the lives of our children and young people.”

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