With neither union’s red lines seemingly met, formal ballots remain a possibility.

Lots of detail still to come though as the experts like
@theifs.bsky.social dig further into the numbers.

The @nasuwt-official.bsky.social has also indicated that if the pay award is not fully funded, it will move to ballot members for industrial action as reaffirmed at its 2025 annual conference.

“If the government does not commit to fully funding this pay award… we are prepared to register a formal dispute over funding.”

labouroutlook.org/2025/06/10/r...

And what about teacher pay and the unions?
The Spending Review doesn’t fully fund the teacher pay deal, a key concern for unions.
@neunion.bsky.social General Secretary
@danielkebedeneu.bsky.social told @labouroutlook.bsky.social yesterday:

A 5% efficiency target for the DfE may hold surprises.
'Efficiencies' often look like cuts from the front line.
We don’t yet know which programmes might be scaled back and how that might impact schools.

A new SEND white paper is expected in the autumn.
This may shift funding responsibilities in future, but without legislation, changes are likely years away, not immediate.

Staff pay, SEND, and energy will likely absorb most of the uplift.
The partial funding of the 4% teacher pay award, rising demand in SEND, and ongoing energy costs will limit flexibility in school budgets.

Capital spending ticks up briefly, then flattens.
It increases to £8.3bn in 2026–27, before falling back to £7.7bn annually.
This is a modest real-terms increase (assuming low inflation), but doesn’t expand the school rebuilding programme dramatically.

The DfE is neither a big winner nor a big loser.
The schools budget will rise by £4.5bn by 2028–29, as previously reported.
However, inflation and existing commitments (e.g. teacher pay) will erode significant parts of this uplift.