Deal reached on teachers' pay in Scotland

An agreement has been reached on teachers' pay in Scotland following months of negotiations.

Teachers will get a 1 per cent rise backdated to April and a further 1 per cent in January. Picture: John Devlin

Teachers will get a 1 per cent rise backdated to April 2017, followed by another 1 per cent rise in January.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish government had set aside an additional £24 million in funding for the deal.

EIS salaries convener Helen Connor said: “Teachers will welcome that agreement has now been reached on a backdated pay settlement for 2017, and that all pay scales will increase by a total of 2 per cent from January.

“It has been a lengthy process to secure this agreement, and work has already begun towards the 2018 pay claim which is scheduled to be settled by April.

“While this pay settlement does not meet our aspiration to restore teachers’ pay to pre-austerity levels, it does represent an uplift in pay that exceeds the current 1 per cent public sector pay cap.

“We welcome that the cap will be lifted from 2018 onwards in Scotland, and will continue to engage constructively in discussions via the SNCT with the aim of delivering improved salaries for all teachers working in our schools.”

Mr Swinney said: “We recognise that teachers are the most important in-school factor in a child’s educational attainment - having the right number of teachers in schools, with the right skills, is vital to delivering our aims of excellence and equity in Scottish schools.

“Reaching agreement on this pay deal demonstrates the benefit of government, employers and unions working together through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.

“As announced in the draft budget, we will provide an additional £24m through the local government settlement to make this deal happen, alongside continued funding of £88m so every school can access the right number of teachers.”