New Deal for FE: consultation 2025

Members working in further education (FE) in England were asked 'Are you prepared to take strike action to secure an above inflation pay rise, binding national bargaining structures and a national workload agreement?'

The response to the consultation, which closed on 20 June 2025, was clear, with 86.1% of members voting YES.

The result of the electronic ballot was considered alongside decisions made at the further education sector conference at UCU Congress 2025, where delegates voted to hold a full industrial action ballot of members at FE colleges in England.

In July 2025 UCU's further education committee decided that the union would move to dispute with employers and a ballot for strike action in autumn 2025.

What is a New Deal for FE about?

The New Deal for FE campaign is built on three fundamental demands:

• pay parity with schoolteachers in England
• national workload agreements
• fully funded and sector-level national bargaining. 

For too long FE has been the neglected sector in Post-16 education. FE staff deserve the same pay as schoolteachers, professional respect, decent terms and conditions and manageable workloads. The New Deal for FE is about all this and more. 

Why now?

The UK Labour government offers the potential for a generational opportunity to reset further education at the heart of the Post-16 education and skills agenda. To do that we need a joined up strategic investment and workforce strategy.

The New Deal for FE provides the roadmap to that reset. The pay gap with schools, which now averages around £10K, must close if staff are to be attracted and retained in FE. Unmanageable workloads need to be addressed with a national framework that applies to all colleges. Sector level pay bargaining needs to be meaningful so that offers made are funded and implemented across the sector.