Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement Negotiation

At the conclusion of four days of facilitation, an agreed terms of settlement was reached for the renewal of the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement (PTCA) on 26 March 2026. Following a member ballot, NZEI members voted to ratify the agreement on 2 April 2026. 

Key elements of the offer include:

• Term of agreement from 2 April 2026 to 2 October 2028 (30 months).
• Continuation of the Unified Base Salary Scale and extension to include unit rate parity increases beyond the $5,500 (introduced into primary from 2 October 2028).
• Pay increase of:
  • 2.5% with effect from 2 April 2026
  • A further 2% (or 2.1% for steps 9 and 10 of the trained teacher scale) from 28 January 2027
• A phased $1000 Increase to Units by 2 October 2028.
• 25 additional Cultural Leadership Allowances (CLA) available from 28 January 2027.
• Confirming Learning Support Coordinators can be employed on a less than full-time basis.
• Service credit for Commencing Salary for Untrained Employees who become Certificated Teachers.
• Relief teachers Professional Learning Development: From 2 April 2026, two and a half (2.5) million dollars over the term of the collective agreement to support those relievers who work in primary school to access structured literacy and mathematics PLD alongside colleagues.  [Note this is proposed to be shared with Area School teachers as part of the settlement of that agreement]
• Curriculum change: The Ministry will provide 500 days of release per annum in each of 2027 and 2028, to support teachers in U1 to U3 schools to support the roll out of curriculum changes by fostering collaboration and sharing effective teaching practices.
• School Camp Allowance increased to $35/day from 28 January 2027.
• Provides that the Associate Teacher Allowance is a minimum rate, and employers may agree to pay more than this.
• Chatham and Pitt Island provisions aligned to those agreed for Primary Principals, including increases to the isolation and freight allowances.
• Changes to Disregarded Sick Leave provisions to exclude instances where absence is due to an employment relations issue. 

The parties have agreed during the term to do further joint work on:

• Annual Holidays and Leave
• Hard to Staff Allowances
• Reliever progression
• Reimbursing Allowances in Part 5 of the Agreement
• Guidance on use of Classroom Release Time for curriculum and assessment improvements.

The terms of settlement set out all the elements of the offer. 

For more information

Enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Education Media Centre.
Media Centre | Education