College employers have offered an improved pay award to lecturers after Scottish Government ministers guaranteed additional funding for the fourth year of a proposed pay deal.

Colleges have now tabled a 4.14% pay rise in 2025/26 - up from 3% previously – which is in addition to the employers’ full and final offer of a £5,000 pay increase across the preceding three academic years.

However, the enhanced pay proposal has only been possible because the Scottish Government agreed to provide £4.5 million in additional funding for an increased lecturer pay award from 2025/26.

The new offer, if accepted by members of the EIS-FELA trade union, would end a long-running industrial dispute that has lasted nearly two years.

It would also deliver starting salaries for lecturers of nearly £42,000 from September 2025, with lecturer salaries at the top of the unpromoted scale increasing to more than £50,000. This offer further cements Scottish college lecturers as having the best pay and conditions of any college lecturers across the UK.

With institutions facing unprecedented financial pressures, the goal of employers throughout the current dispute has been to secure a pay settlement that is fair and affordable.

Employers have also been determined to protect the interests of students, which is why they were ready to deduct pay from staff for participation in the EIS-FELA’s resulting boycott.

Gavin Donoghue, Director of College Employers Scotland, the national body for colleges as employers, said:

“It is hoped this improved pay offer to the EIS-FELA will mean an end to this long-running pay dispute, and prevent any further disruption to staff and students at the start of the new academic year.

“Given the financial pressure colleges are under, it has only been possible to improve the pay offer because Ministers have agreed to the employers’ request that additional funding of £4.5 million be made available from 2025/26.

“We urge EIS-FELA members to accept this substantial pay offer if it is put to them in a formal ballot. This would allow colleges to get back to providing the world-class educational experience our students deserve.

“Employers have also requested the trade union cancel all industrial action while the pay ballot takes place, so that students do not continue to suffer any further disruption to their learning.”