// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Schools in England get extra £500m in bid to avoid teachers' pay strike
The largest teaching union had objected to the prospect of partly funding a 3.5% pay increase this year out of existing school budgets
Schools in England are to get around £500 million in extra funding towards the teachers' pay award this school year, reducing the risk of a strike ballot by the largest education union.
Schools had been expected to fund some of the 3.5% teachers pay increase for the current school year out of their existing budgets, which National Education Union (NEU) leaders had strongly objected to.
Daniel Kebede, the General Secretary of the NEU, said the offer of more funding was a "significant" step in negotiations.
In a letter to the union on Wednesday, which has been seen by the BBC, the government said the increase would be funded by savings in employers' contributions to the local government pension scheme.
The letter said the 4.9 percentage point drop in what employers are expected to contribute will deliver "significant savings" on the pay bill for support staff, which will not be clawed back by central government.
The National Education Union said it expected the extra money to be around £500m, which schools can now use towards teachers pay this year.
In July, ministers accepted the recommendation of the independent pay review body for teachers and agreed a 3.5% increase from September 2026 would be followed by 3% the following year.
The pay increase had been partly funded by an additional £700m for 2026-27 and £1.1bn for the following year.
Independent economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that left schools facing a shortfall of around 1% between rising costs and funding this year.