TEACHERS are demanding a “significant” pay increase to end the crisis facing the profession.

Five education unions issued a joint statement to the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) saying it is a “matter of justice and fairness” that teacher and school leaders should stop having to shoulder real-terms pay cuts.

And the increase must be fully funded by the government as school budgets are already “at breaking point,” warned the National Education Union (NEU), Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), Welsh teachers’ union Ucac and Voice.