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Strike closes one in 10 schools as an estimated 200,000 teachers walk-out

Recruitment & Retention Pay and conditions Support staff Government policy Teaching staff Workload Trade unions
As many as 200,000 members of the National Education Union are estimated to have walked out on Wednesday (February 1) – forcing the full closure of around one in 10 schools.

Early estimates from the Department for Education (DfE) suggest that around 9% of all schools were fully closed, with at least 43% partially closed, and 44% or so fully open.

It was the first in a series of walk-outs planned by the NEU between now and mid-March in a dispute over pay and took place after last ditch talks between unions and the DfE on Monday (January 30) failed to make progress.

Walking out were teachers in schools and sixth form colleges in England and Wales and support staff members in Wales. They are fighting for a 10% pay rise.

In a worrying sign for the DfE, the union has reported an influx of 43,000 new members signing up since it announced its intention to strike, adding weight to the union’s position.

The next walk-outs are planned for February 14 in Wales and February 28 in the North of England. The next national walk-outs are planned for March 15 and 16.

The dispute centres on historic real-terms cuts to teachers’ pay which equate to as much as 13% since 2010. Salaries for teachers on most pay grades are expected to fall by 5% in real-terms this year alone (Sibieta, 2023). See full details of the pay dispute here.

Talks have been on-going between education secretary Gillian Keegan and four unions – the NEU, NASUWT, National Association of Head Teachers, and Association of School and College Leaders.

After the most recent talks on Monday, ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton accused the DfE of “talking around the issues”.

He said: “The government continues to talk around the issues rather than putting anything on the table which allows for any meaningful negotiation. It is deeply disappointing.

“The education secretary is clearly constrained in what she can do by wider government policy and by the Treasury even though there is overwhelming evidence that we have a full-blown teacher recruitment and retention crisis driven by the government’s erosion of teacher pay and conditions over the past decade. It is this which has led to the strike action being taken.

“The next planned strike is not until the end of February and the government simply must resolve this matter through meaningful negotiation between now and then.”

The DfE’s data shows that secondary schools were hardest hit on Wednesday. For primary schools, 50% remained open, 9% were closed, and 37% were partially closed. However, only 17% of secondaries managed to open fully, with 71% partially closed, and 9% fully closed. This is based on data from 16,400 schools (77% of the total).

The DfE guidance on strike action recommends that where schools cannot remain open fully, priority should be given to vulnerable groups, children of critical workers, and examination groups.

A snapshot survey of ASCL members on Wednesday echoed the DfE’s data. ASCL found that of 948 members who responded, 920 said they had teachers on strike. Of these schools and colleges, 11% were fully open, 80% were partially closed, and 9% were fully closed.

Of the 823 which were partially or fully closed, 86% said they have provided work for students to do at home and 81% had on-site provision for vulnerable students.

Mr Barton added: “This has clearly been a difficult day for everyone concerned, but the stark truth is that the erosion of teacher pay and conditions over the past decade, and resulting teacher shortages, mean every day in education is a difficult one.

“We implore the government to avert further industrial action by improving pay and conditions and addressing the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.”

In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Dr MaryBousted and Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretaries of the NEU, said that the education secretary was “on notice”.

They continued: “She has until our next strike day for England, February 28, to change her stance. NEU members do not want to go on strike again. They want constructive talks that deal directly with the long-standing concerns they experience in their schools and colleges every day.

“However, be in no doubt that our members will do whatever it takes to stand up for education, including further strike action, if Gillian Keegan still fails to step up with concrete and meaningful proposals."

Elsewhere, the NAHT has said it is “committed to balloting again” over strike action after its first ballot was affected by the postal strikes. A total of 42% of eligible members voted in its last ballot, short of the 50% required by law. Of those members who did vote, 64% supported strikes.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said they will wait until talks with the government either come to an end or break down.

Speaking at an NEU strike rally on Wednesday, he added: “The government needs to be honest with the public. This dispute is not the product of extraordinary economic conditions. This dispute is the result of more than a decade of the deliberate erosion of investment in education. More than a decade of the deliberate erosion of leader, teacher and support staff pay.

“We warned of the recruitment and retention crisis more than five years ago and every year since. The government has failed to respond to those warnings, and it is the government alone who are responsible for the decline of teaching careers.

“My appeal to government is end the meetings empty of offers, designed only to provide a veneer of negotiation, and enter into meaningful talks. Our cause is just, and our cause is right.”

The list of further NEU strike days is as follows:

  • Tuesday, February 14: All eligible members in Wales.
  • Tuesday, February 28: All eligible members in Northern, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber regions.
  • Wednesday, March 1: All eligible members in East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern regions.
  • Thursday, March 2: All eligible members in London, South East, South West regions.
  • Wednesday, March 15: All eligible members in England and Wales.
  • Thursday, March 16: All eligible members in England and Wales.