Scotland: workers’ resistance a priority
24 April 2026
Devolution does not help British workers. The answer is to wrest power for the working class, and not give it away to posturing politicians…
Education
Education
Teachers strike for safety
6 March 2026
Teachers at a school in Gloucestershire are taking action to resolve what thy say are unsafe working conditions. So far the school and the academy trust of which it is a member are not listening…
Education: funding crisis hits special needs
The government says it is going to completely reform the special educational needs and disabilities system. Professionals and parents are looking on with scepticism…
Teachers test response
The National Education Union is running a ballot of its members in schools in England to test their response to the government’s offer of an unfunded 6.5 per cent pay increase over three years.
Hollowing out London: school closure
14 August 2025
A Workers reader writes to point out that the closure of primary schools is both a symptom of workers being priced out of London and something which will hinder its reversal.
Get asbestos out of schools!
23 April 2025
A new campaign aims to build support for removing all asbestos from schools without more delay.
Get asbestos out of schools! [print version]
On 4 April an impressive meeting was held in Hamilton House, north London, to build a campaign to remove all asbestos from schools. Appropriately, it was held during Global Asbestos Awareness Week. The aim is to press government to take corrective action urgently.
Fight for pay and funding in schools
26 February 2025
NEU members are taking part in a preliminary ballot to ask if they will strike over pay and funding. The union is challenging a below inflation rise in English schools, with no increased funding.
Battling for arts education [print version]
Workers in the arts continue their fight to reverse decades of cuts in government funding. The Arts and Minds Campaign wants the arts and literature to be restored to the schools core curriculum.
Battling for arts education
25 February 2025
Workers in the arts continue their fight to reverse decades of cuts in government funding. The Arts and Minds Campaign is calling for arts and literature to be restored to the schools core curriculum, and fully funded.
Cuts in arts education
23 October 2024
Arts education provision across Britain is suffering from continuing cuts including instrumental music, drama and visual arts. Workers in arts and education are trying to build campaigns to counter this decline.
Teachers Pay: Preparing for battle
After a year of unprecedented industrial action, the National Education Union discussed what to do next in its ongoing pay campaign at its Easter conference.
Ofsted under fire
The Association of School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers have called for Ofsted inspections to be paused immediately.
Class struggle – school attendance matters
6 November 2023
The coronavirus pandemic affected the level of school attendances across Britain and they have not recovered since. This is brought out in a new report just published.
Rebuild our schools – assert our priorities
1 September 2023
Closing schools just before the start of term was sudden and unplanned but no surprise. Many school buildings are in poor repair and have been for some time. This is unsafe and bad for pupils’ education.
Back to school - a national priority
School attendance is essential for both personal attainment and a key part of developing the skills we need as a nation.
Teachers’ resounding victory
21 August 2023
The conclusion of the current teachers’ pay dispute has seen a resounding victory for schools in England and the unions involved, and has secured their biggest single pay rise in 30 years.
Teachers reject pay offer in fight for education
The well crafted and deliberate attacks on education by government are now being resisted by workers, who believe this is a critical point in the struggle to arrest decline…
Teachers on strike for pay [print version]
On 1 February, teachers in the National Education Union (NEU) joined other public sector workers on strike, the first of six days of national and regional strike action throughout England and Wales.
Teachers’ strikes for pay begin
14 February 2023
Teachers in the (NEU) joined other public sector workers on strike on 1 February. National Education Union members held the first of six days planned strike action throughout England and Wales.
School strikes ahead after big vote for action
20 January 2023
School teachers in England and Wales, members of the National Education Union (NEU), have voted to take industrial action over pay. Strikes, both national and regional, are set to affect 23,000 schools.
Private school pension action wins
16 May 2022
Teachers in independent schools have taken successful industrial action in thier fight to stay in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. Employers argued they could no longer afford increased contributions.
Independent school teachers’ strikes win early gains
5 March 2022
After six days of strike action, teachers at the Girls’ Day School Trust have won a number of concessions from management about the future of their pension rights. But the fight is not over yet.
Independent school strikes [print version]
Teachers in 23 independent schools run by the Girls’ Day School Trust voted overwhelmingly to strike after their employer said it would withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme
Independent school teachers take strike action
23 February 2022
Teachers in 23 independent schools run by the Girls’ Day School Trust have started strike action after their employer said it would withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
Most primary schools lack a library, says report
3 November 2021
A report from the National Literacy Trust reveals that one in eight primary schools in England do not have a library – despite the proven link between school library provision and literacy levels.
Nursery funding: Stop cuts, say staff
Over 200 nursery school staff marched from Parliament Square to Downing Street to demand secure long-term funding for the sector.
Power grab threatens chaos in teacher training
Having struggled with the impact of Covid-19, the education profession is now facing turmoil as the government seeks to take control of all aspects of teacher training…
BTECs: Scrapping opposed [print version]
An announcement that BTEC qualifications are effectively to be scrapped in 2023 has met with widespread condemnation ...
United opposition to axing BTECs
31 July 2021
An announcement that BTEC qualifications are effectively to be scrapped in 2023 has met with widespread condemnation across the further education and university sectors.