UNISON is the leading union for support staff in further education colleges, and the only recognised union in sixth forms.
Nationally and locally we campaign on improving pay, including introducing the living wage for the lowest paid college workers, and tackling the gender pay gap.
In England, pay for staff in further education is negotiated between the FE unions and the Association of Colleges (AoC) in the national joint forum (NJF). UNISON is represented on the NJF by staff working in colleges.
The result of the national negotiations is a pay recommendation which individual colleges use as a benchmark to set their own pay rates. UNISON firmly believes that national bargaining should result in a pay offer that colleges are obliged to implement.
Pay in Further Education in England has reached crisis point. For over a decade pay has failed to keep pace with the rate of inflation leaving staff with 35% less spending power than they had in 2010.
On the 27 March 2024, the joint trade unions submitted the 2024/25 pay claim calling for:
UNISON met the AoC on 20 May 2024, for this year’s pay negotiations. The AoC refused to make a pay recommendation, stating that they would press the government for further funding for pay.
Last year, the sector was given a further £285m for pay by the government, which the Secretary of State declared was to be used to support recruitment and retention in the sector.
A pay claim was submitted to employers on the 9 May 2024 for 2024/2025 calling for a pay rise equivalent to school teachers to be awarded to all staff in Further Education and for all staff affected by changes in real Living Wage rates to have these rates implemented following the announcement of the rise in October 2024.
Following industrial action in 2022 and 2024, Colleges Scotland have now offered a 3 year pay deal:
The offer also includes no compulsory redundancies between 01 September 2022 and 31 August 2024, and the following commitments:
Members are currently being consulted on this offer until 30 May 2024.
Further details on pay negotiations in Scotland can be found on this page – https://unison-scotland.org/service-groups-and-sectors/further-education/
In Northern Ireland the employers’ representative, Colleges Northern Ireland, was disbanded in June 2018.
Sixth Form Colleges Pay 2023/24
Following consultation with UNISON members working in sixth form colleges, UNISON has agreed to accept the SFCA pay offer for 2023/24. The headlines of the award are:
The joint circular with full details of the settlement along with the revised pay spine can be found here.
The NJC will have further meetings to look at the other issues raised by the trade union side at the earliest opportunity.
Term time working and holiday pay
UNISON secured a victory in a Court of Appeal case in summer 2019 which ruled that all employees are entitled to statutory minimum of 28 days paid annual leave even if they do not work for part of the year or work irregular hours. The judgment also confirmed that this should be paid at the rate of a week’s pay (and if this is irregular, then the average over the previous 12 weeks). If you’re unsure about how your college has calculated your holiday pay, your UNISON rep can help.
Pay and conditions claim for support staff in scope of the NJNC in Scottish FE colleges. Submitted by UNISON, Unite and GMB
Job evaluation guidance for further education, including legal advice on achieving equal pay Updated October 2012
Joint union framework for colleges to use when investigating
potential gender pay gaps and developing sustainable strategies to remedy
identified gaps.
