Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to introduce binding sectoral bargaining to the further education sector.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE) as this remains the responsibility of individual colleges who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs. There are no current plans to introduce binding sectoral bargaining in FE.

The department is investing around £600 million across in FE in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas, including in sixth form colleges. We also continue to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme. The department will also work with the FE sector to recruit 6,500 additional teachers across schools and colleges to raise standards for children and young people.