Strike-hit schools under pressure to run exam classes

MINISTERS are set to plead with schools to keep classes open for GCSES and A-level pupils if unions today announce that teachers will strike.

The National Education Union (NEU) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) are due to publish the results of ballots for industrial action.

Whitehall insiders and trade union figures believe that the NEU, the largest education union with 300,000 members, will reach the turnout threshold needed to hold strikes, with the NAHT outcome said to be more in the balance.

The Education Department has drawn up guidance to be issued to all schools in England tomorrow morning if strike action by at least one of the unions is announced.

The advice will urge headteachers to keep classes open for groups facing exams this summer, amid fears walkouts could see entire schools return to lockdown-style remote learning.

“The stakes could not be higher,” said a Whitehall source. “We are hoping for the best but planning for the worst, and all things in between.”

Ministers will also ask schools to prioritise pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, but the advice is not binding. There is no minimum service level agreement. Legislation giving ministers the power to impose such a requirement is not expected to pass Parliament until the summer at the earliest.

There is a hope that the education unions will agree to a voluntary minimum service, but there has been little progress after the idea was floated earlier this month. Details about how many teachers may strike and when will not be made public until after the ballot results are announced.

It is understood that the NEU is planning a mix of national and regional walk-outs, with two or three-day stoppages that could start next month.

The dispute would impact education in England, where there are nine million pupils and more than 24,000 schools, as well as Wales. Primary and secondary schools could both be affected. Industrial action already taking place in Scotland may give an indication of what to expect. The biggest teaching union north of the border on Friday announced 22 days of strike action, on top of a 16-day walkout program that starts this week.

Whitehall insiders told this newspaper it was possible whole schools in England could close, especially if both teachers and those in leadership positions take industrial action.

Government ministers are said to be especially concerned about strikes harming efforts to help children catch up with the learning they lost during Covid lockdowns.