Teachers in Northern Ireland have accepted a 4% pay offer.
The pay settlement was agreed by the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) and the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC).
The pay rise will cost £38.3 million in 2025/26, with a £65.6 million annual recurring cost afterwards. The offer comrpises a 4% cost-of-living increase for teachers and a 4% increase in teaching and special needs allowances backdated to 1 September 2025. Starting salaries for graduate teachers will increase to £32,916, while an experienced teacher at the top of the upper pay scale will receive £50,876.
The five trade unions that make up the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council accepted the offer on behalf of their members. These are National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), Ulster Teachers’ Union (UTU), National Education Union (NEU) and National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).
Education minister Paul Givan said: “Extensive work has taken place to offer a pay rise in line with the increase received by teachers in England and Wales, bringing teachers in Northern Ireland onto broadly comparable scales to their counterparts in other parts of the UK. The pay award reflects the value that I place on those working in education, despite the severe financial issues facing education and the wider public sector in Northern Ireland. It firmly demonstrates my support for teachers and recognises the vital contribution they make to children’s life chances.”
Justin McCamphill, national official for Northern Ireland at NASUWT, added: “We welcome this pay offer, which is a significant and hard-won achievement only made possible by executive agreement after a ministerial direction. Crucially, this offer is not conditional. It allows us to separate the vital issue of pay from our ongoing campaign to tackle excessive teacher workload, for which the independent panel’s report now provides a concrete basis for resolution. The minister must now act decisively on those recommendations.”
