09-07-2025
Schools lose 600 teaching days a year as local strikes escalate
Strikes by the UK's largest education union cost schools almost 600 teaching days last year as local disputes multiplied.
The National Education Union's (NEU) 593 days of local walkouts in 2024 represented a seven-fold jump over the past five years.
The most recent national strike action among teachers was in 2023 in the midst of a major clash with the Government over pay, but unions frequently stage walkouts on a local level.
Strikes often happen in various different schools on the same day due to differing local disputes.
Telegraph analysis of NEU annual accounts show the union's local strike activity has soared over the past few years.
The organisation held 38 successful ballots among members in 2018/19 as a result of various disputes over teaching conditions, resulting in 80 days of lost learning for pupils that year.
This dropped to 48 days of walkouts in 2019/20 but has rocketed every year since then, with 132 days of local walkouts the following year, 155 in 2021/22 and 184 in 2022/23.
'Worst recruitment and retention crisis'
Daniel Kebede, the NEU's general secretary, told The Telegraph that worsening teaching conditions had prompted the significant rise in local walkouts.
'Teachers want to be in the classroom not the picket line but the notable increase in disputes across the country is a clear indication of problems facing the education workforce,' he said.
'Problems exacerbated by a lack of funding, an unmanageable workload, issues around pay and, in the independent sector, pensions. All of which are leading to the worst teacher recruitment and retention crisis in a generation.'
The union faced protests this week after parents at one group of academies in south London were given just four days' notice of teacher strikes.
Hundreds of staff at the Charter Schools Trust are due to walk out this week in a dispute over maternity pay, with further strike dates set for July 15, 16, and 17.
The Trust has already agreed to three of four of the NEU's demands for teachers at the group of nine schools, which have more than 4,500 pupils aged from four to 18.
It is understood to have agreed to decouple pay rises from performance, form a staff group for workload and well-being issues, and recognise teachers' union membership.
But the Trust told the NEU it could not afford a demand for higher maternity pay, which could amount to as much as £4,863 extra for the highest-paid teachers.
Chris McGovern, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education (CRE), told The Telegraph the strike action was 'damaging, selfish and grossly unfair on pupils'.
In a letter to parents, Alison Harbottle, the head teacher of The Charter School East Dulwich, said the strikes were 'deeply regrettable', adding: 'I am extremely sorry for the disruption caused to your child's education.'
Clash over Jamaican staff
NEU members at a separate academy in south London also walked out on Tuesday, with the union claiming that Jamaican staff were 'targeted' by their bosses and underpaid thousands of pounds.
Staff at Harris Beckenham said they were launching two days of strike action over complaints they are being 'severely overworked to the point of exhaustion', and have been forced to deal with an unacceptable management style.
The Harris Federation, one of the UK's largest academy chains, previously came under fire after being accused of paying Jamaican teachers less than their British colleagues.
A spokesman for the Harris Federation said they 'wholly refute any allegations of racism', and insisted that Jamaican teachers' pay and conditions 'are exactly the same as others in the same position'.
A 2023 report by the Office for National Statistics found the education sector had one of the highest number of working days of any industry lost due to strike activity.
During that year, millions of pupils were disrupted by nationwide teaching strikes, including eight days of walkouts by NEU members in England.
Tensions cooled last year after the Government handed out above-inflation pay offers to the public sector, meaning teachers received fully-funded rises of 5.5 per cent last year.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, announced in May the sector will receive a further 4 per cent pay rise next year, although this is only partially funded.
Mr Kebede promised to lodge a formal dispute with the Government unless ministers promise to fully fund the latest pay offer, warning that it would lead to 'cuts… job losses, and additional workloads' in many schools.
The NEU has over 450,000 members, making it the largest education union in the UK and Europe.
Local strike action by other teaching unions is far lower, Telegraph analysis shows, although numbers appear to be rising.
The NASUWT teaching union, which has 300,000 members, launched 269 days of walkouts in 2022/23, up from just 25 the year before and 60 in 2018/19.
