Overview

• Around 345,000 RCN members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have opened the ballot on a 3.6% pay rise offered for 2025-26.
• The RCN described the 3.6% increase as grotesque, warning it will be swallowed by inflation and sits below rises awarded to doctors, teachers and other public sector staff.
• Nursing pay in real terms has fallen by roughly 25% since 2010/11, contributing to more than 26,000 unfilled posts and a collapse in student recruitment.
• The ballot result will determine whether the union proceeds to a formal strike ballot or other industrial action.
• Scottish nurses, excluded from the vote, have already secured an 8% rise over two years to become the highest-paid in the UK.