Key takeaway: The NJC has confirmed a 3.3% pay increase from 1 April 2026, covering the national pay spine (SCP 3 to SCP 43). This applies automatically to maintained-school support staff. Academies and MATs are not automatically bound — many follow NJC terms voluntarily, but trusts should check their own position and TUPE terms. This is the routine annual NJC uplift, not an SSSNB-negotiated outcome; the SSSNB’s own first award is not expected before 2027-28.
Who this applies to
Maintained schools: support staff (teaching assistants, administrators, technicians, catering and site staff, school business managers) are employed by the local authority and are covered by the NJC’s Green Book by default. The 3.3% award applies directly and should be implemented, with backpay, as soon as possible.
Academies and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs): trusts are not automatically bound by the NJC. The current system — which the DfE’s SSSNB consultation response describes as exempting academy trusts from national pay and conditions — means many academies and MATs choose to align with NJC Green Book terms (for consistency, recruitment, or because staff transferred in with TUPE-protected terms), while others set independent pay and grading structures. Whether this 3.3% award applies to your trust’s staff therefore depends on your own contractual position, not on the NJC settlement alone.
What’s been agreed
The NJC — acting through the Local Government Association (LGA) on the employers’ side — has confirmed a 3.3% increase to pay rates and allowances, effective from 1 April 2026 and covering the period to 31 March 2027, as a consolidated, permanent addition.
Under the Green Book (the NJC’s national agreement on pay and conditions of service), the nationally negotiated pay spine runs from Spinal Column Point (SCP) 3 to SCP 43, following the deletion of SCP 1 (with effect from 1 April 2023) and SCP 2 (with effect from 1 April 2026). SCP 43 is the top of the national spine — this covers the great majority of school support staff roles. A small number of senior posts (e.g. some trust finance or business director roles, below deputy chief officer level) may sit on locally determined points above SCP 43, per Green Book Part 2, Paragraph 5.4; these are set by the individual employer, not nationally negotiated, though they receive the same 3.3% uplift once fixed.
A snapshot of the national spine most relevant to school support staff roles:
| SCP | £ per annum (from 1 Apr 2026) | £ per hour | Position on scale |
| 3 | £25,614 | £13.28 | Bottom of national NJC spine |
| 7 | £27,274 | £14.14 | LC1 substantive benchmark (start) — typical Level 1/2 TA range |
| 18 | £32,578 | £16.89 | LC2 (below substantive) — typical senior TA / admin range |
| 24 | £36,581 | £18.96 | LC2 substantive benchmark (start) |
| 33 | £45,529 | £23.60 | LC3 (below substantive) — typical school business manager range |
| 37 | £49,817 | £25.82 | LC3 substantive benchmark (start) |
| 43 | £56,293 | £29.18 | TOP OF NATIONAL NJC SPINE |
Hourly rates are calculated by dividing the annual salary by 52.143 weeks (365 days ÷ 7) and then by 37 hours (the standard working week) — the Green Book’s standard formula.
Managing the backpay: An advisory for Finance & HR
Because the 3.3% award is backdated to 1 April 2026, most schools and trusts will need to process a one-off backpay calculation alongside implementing the new rates going forward. Three things are worth managing proactively.
- Calculate backpay accurately
- Backpay is the difference between an employee’s old and new SCP rate for every pay period from 1 April 2026 to the date the new rates are implemented, pro-rated for part-time and term-time-only staff against their normal contracted hours/weeks.
- Recalculate separately for anyone who changed hours, grade, or left employment during the backdated period.
- Payslips must show the backpay as gross pay with all deductions itemised (Employment Rights Act 1996, s.8 — the right to an itemised pay statement), not folded silently into a single unexplained figure.
- Loop in finance early
- This award was only confirmed in August 2026 but is backdated five months — for most schools and trusts it’s an unbudgeted, in-year cost. Tell your business manager or CFO the total backpay liability, and the recurring cost of the higher base rates, as soon as the award is confirmed for your establishment, so it can be reflected in revised budget forecasts and flagged to the local authority or trust board where relevant.
- MATs running central payroll should coordinate timing across all member schools so backpay lands consistently and finance has one clear liability figure, not several inconsistent local calculations.
- Tell staff what to expect — including the benefits impact
- Tell staff in advance whether backpay will arrive as a single lump sum or be spread across pay periods, and when — don’t let it be a surprise on a payslip.
- This matters most for staff on Universal Credit or other means-tested support (e.g. Council Tax Reduction).
- Universal Credit does not restart automatically if a claim closes. Affected staff need to log into their UC journal and use the “Reclaim” option as soon as possible to avoid missing a payment.
- Employers should not give personalised benefits advice but should signpost affected staff to gov.uk/universal-credit and an independent benefits calculator (e.g. entitledto.co.uk) so they can check their own position ahead of the payment date.
- Some NJC employers have previously agreed, at an individual employee’s request only, to stagger backpay over two or more pay periods specifically to soften this spike. Schools and trusts may wish to offer the same option and should make staff aware it’s available if they ask.
How we got here
GMB, UNISON and Unite submitted the 2026/27 pay claim to Local Government Employers on 1 December 2025, seeking an increase of at least £3,000 or 10% and a minimum pay rate of £15 an hour, alongside a reduction in the working week, an extra day of annual leave, the right for school support staff specifically to take a day of term-time annual leave without loss of pay, and the abolition of the Level 1 Teaching Assistant role in favour of Level 2 for all.
Employers made a “full and final” offer of 3.3% in March 2026 and rejected every other element of the claim, including both school-specific asks. Following a rejected ballot (turnout fell short of the threshold required for formal industrial action), GMB and UNISON both “reluctantly” accepted the offer; Unite had not confirmed a final position. With two of the three recognised unions accepting, the joint trade union side confirmed acceptance to the National Employers, settling the 2026/27 pay round on this basis.
How FusionHR & SAMpeople can help
Need help communicating this to your support staff? Contact our education specialist people consultants on 01924 827 869.
Reputable Sources & Guidance
- The Green Book — National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service (NJC for Local Government Services), Part 2, Para 5.4 (priority source; clause quoted verbatim in the official NJC circulars below)
- DfE, “Setting up the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB): consultation response”, GOV.UK — on academy trusts’ current exemption from national pay and conditions
- GMB Union, Local Government Pay FAQs — “Who does this apply to” / “I work in an academy, how do I know if the proposals apply to me”
- GMB Union, “NJC ‘Green Book’ Noticeboard” — NJC Pay Negotiations 2026/27 Update, 21 August 2026
- National Association of Local Councils (NALC), “2026-27 National Salary Award”, 24 August 2026 (circular supplied by client — corroborates SCP 3-43 figures; issued for parish/town council clerks, not schools)
- Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC), “LGA Announces 2026 Local Government Pay Settlement”, 24 August 2026
- Local Government Association (LGA), “Local government services” — Workforce and HR support
- UK, “Universal Credit” — how earnings and lump-sum payments affect assessment periods
- House of Commons Library, “Wages and the Universal Credit assessment period” (CBP-8501)
- Barnet UNISON, “Advice on Backpay and Universal Credit” — practical guidance on staggering backpay and the surplus earnings rule
- HMRC, Employment Income Manual EIM02530 — “Arrears of pay”, tax treatment across tax years
- Employment Rights Act 1996, s.8 — right to an itemised pay statement
