The ballot of sixth form college members is underway.  Please remember to vote and remind your colleagues to vote too!  We need a high turnout and "yes" vote in both ballots, to send the Government and the employers the strongest possible message that teachers will resist the cuts and their impact on colleges. Please take any opportunity to meet with colleagues in your college to discuss the issues.

The Government's latest proposals for the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) are contained in a document called the "TPS heads of agreement". You can see that on the NUT website here together with an NUT briefing on the proposals.

The NUT, in common with NASUWT, UCU and UCAC, has not "signed up" to the document.  These four unions cover around 80% of members of the TPS. Four unions - ATL, ASCL, NAHT and Voice - have "signed up" to the document although even that is subject to the views of their members.

Why Hasn't The NUT Signed Up?

The NUT hasn't signed up because the heads of agreement require teachers to

• work to 68 to get a full pension
• pay an average of 50% more for their pension and
• have their pension indexed by CPI instead of RPI (cutting the value of their pension by around 15%)

Hasn't The Government Made Concessions?

As a result of our strike (together with ATL, PCS and UCU) on 30th June, and with the threat of wider action in November, the Government made concessions on 2nd November, offering

• an 8% improvement in the Government's proposed "cost ceiling" - the amount of money it is willing to see spent on teachers' pensions; and
• some protection to those within 10 years of retirement, and some lower and tapered protection for those between 10 and  13.5 years of retirement.

The NUT was pleased that the Government had recognised the need to make concessions. However, as we pointed out then, every member would still be thousands of pounds out of pocket from higher contributions and CPI indexation; and the 75% of NUT members not covered by protection would still have to work longer to get a full pension.

Pension facts for parents