College lecturers have emphatically voted to accept a new pay offer from employers tabled last week.

Members of the EIS-FELA union have been engaged in industrial action since 2022, including strikes and an ongoing action short of a strike in a long-running dispute over pay.

Last week though the union announced that it had called off a new round of strikes, with an improved pay offer tabled following an intervention by the Scottish Government.

College Employers Scotland offered a 4.14% pay rise for 2025-26, having previously offered 3%, on top of a £5,000 pay increase across the preceding three academic years.

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The pay offer also included confirmation that, if the deal were to be accepted, lecturers who have had their pay deducted for participating in a results boycott will have that pay returned once results are in.

EIS-FELA put the offer to its members with a recommendation to accept, and announced on Friday that 95% had voted in favour on an 84% turnout.

Commenting on the ballot result, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said, “Our members in the further education sector have delivered a very clear ballot result today, voting overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the improved pay offer from college employers.

"The offer delivers pay certainty and stability for our members for this year and next, together with backdated pay settlements for the past two years.

"Additionally, there is an obligation on college employers to repay any salary that was ‘deemed’, that is to say deducted, from lecturers engaged in action short of strike during this dispute. The agreement also includes assurances in relation to no compulsory redundancies as a result of this deal.

“This has been a very long and difficult campaign, with EIS-FELA members forced to engage in a long-running programme of industrial action to secure a fair pay settlement from college employers and assurance that this will not come at the cost of jobs. It is by standing together, through their union, that our members have achieved success in the campaign for a fair pay settlement from college employers.

"This dispute really did not have to go on for as long as it did, as colleges could have shown far more urgency in delivering a fair offer and the Scottish Government could have stepped in earlier to facilitate an improved settlement with the injection of additional funding, and, importantly, taking a firm stance against deeming.

“With this ballot result, the EIS has now suspended all industrial action across Scotland pending the expected ratification of the NJNC Pay Agreement early next week.

"The EIS expects employers to take urgent action to deliver their parts of the expected Agreement, including to ensure that all money withheld via ‘deeming’ of lecturers’ salaries is repaid to our members as soon as possible. EIS FELA members look forward to rebuilding and improving further education and hope that employers will join us on that journey.”

College Employers Scotland has been contacted for comment.