Many schools in England are likely to close on Wednesday, as teachers walk out again over pay. It is the sixth national strike by members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England since February – and another is planned for Friday. As well as lessons, end-of-term events such as sports day, concerts, and school trips could be disrupted. And with more strike ballots taking place, schools are bracing for further disruption in the new school year. It has been more than five months since teachers first took to the picket lines in woolly hats, clutching takeaway coffees between gloved hands They received a 5% rise for the year 2022-23. This time they are calling for above-inflation increases, plus additional money to ensure any pay rises do not come from schools’ existing budgets.
The weather may have improved since that first strike on 1 February, but relations between the two sides in this dispute remain as frosty as ever. There are no talks under way between the unions and the Department for Education (DfE), and there is no obvious resolution in sight. There have been crunch points in recent months. After intensive talks in March, the government offered teachers an additional one-off payment of £1,000. It also offered a 4.3% pay rise for most teachers next year – with starting salaries reaching £30,000. The NEU, and three other unions involved in the dispute, rejected the offer – which means the one-off payment is now off the table. As schools returned for the summer term, all four announced they would join forces to co-ordinate any future strike action. More strikes have taken place since then.
The most recent walkout, on 2 May, affected more schools than previously – with less than half, only 45.3%, able to fully open. Some teenagers we spoke to at the time were worried revision classes would be affected, as they prepared for exams. The NEU has said it did everything it could to make sure school was as normal as possible for those year groups taking examinations this summer. Two things will determine what happens next. The first is the announcement of how much teachers will be paid next year. The matter has been considered by the independent pay review body, and its recommendations are currently being appraised by the government. We don’t know when any announcement will be made on pay. If previous years are anything to go by, we can expect it to come in late July, as children prepare to break up for the summer holidays.
The other thing to watch will be the results of strike ballots, which are currently under way in all four unions. It is the second time that members of the NEU, teachers’ union NASUWT and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) have been asked whether they would be prepared to strike over pay. Last time, only the NEU received enough votes for industrial action to go ahead. In addition, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) – another head teachers’ union – is also balloting members, for the first time in its 150-year history. Head teachers have told the BBC, they are concerned about the effect pay has on recruitment and retention of staff. With those ballots set to close in mid-to-late July, we could see a flurry of activity in the coming weeks.
Online tool Teacher Tapp quizzes thousands of primary and secondary teachers, in both the state and private sector, about their daily experiences in the classroom. One recent survey suggested almost four-in-10 Year 6 students had visits to their new secondary schools booked on strike days this week. These could well be disrupted. And if enough union members vote for further strike action, those same pupils could see their new Year 7 teachers walk out in the autumn term too. Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s “refusal to re-enter negotiations” had “united the teaching profession in its anger towards a government that is failing to recognise the serious challenges that need to be addressed in our education system”. The DfE has not yet responded to a request for comment, but has previously said its pay offer was a “fair and reasonable offer” and schools would receive an extra £2.3bn over the next two years.
