Colleges have offered trade unions a full and final £5,000 consolidated pay rise for all staff across three years, as they push to resolve an ongoing industrial dispute.   

If accepted by the trade unions, the offer, which covers the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, would deliver an 11.5% average pay rise for college lecturers from September 2024, keeping them as the UK’s best-paid college lecturers. Those at the start of the National Pay Scale would benefit from a rise of 14.2%. 

College support staff would enjoy a near 16% pay rise, with staff who earn less than £25,000 receiving an increase of 21.5%.

Employers have also provided a new commitment that any compulsory redundancies would not be directly related to the new three-year pay offer, were it to be accepted by the trade unions.

Gavin Donoghue, Director of CES, said: “This is a very fair pay offer for college staff and would provide significant pay rises, especially now inflation has fallen to 4.6% and is forecast to decline further. 

“These proposed pay rises have also been offered against a backdrop of serious financial stress and challenge for colleges, including an 8.5% real-terms reduction in Scottish Government funding since 2021/22. Delivering the full and final three-year offer will already test college finances and employers simply cannot afford to go beyond it. 

“Colleges are also aware of trade union concerns over job security. That is why our full and final pay offer includes a written commitment that, despite the financial pressures facing the sector, any compulsory redundancies will not be related directly to this pay award.

“Given the financial pressures facing colleges, and the very fair pay award on the table, we urge the EIS-FELA and support staff unions to recommend the employers’ full and final three-year pay offer to their members in a ballot. This would allow college staff to benefit from the proposed pay rise as soon as possible.”