School strikes unlikely in England after 5.5% pay offer

As well as increased spending on public sector pay, the government has also announced a number of cuts to afford it.

That includes the Advanced British Standard qualification introduced by former prime minister Rishi Sunak.

He said the new qualification would combine A-levels with vocational T-levels and would involve mandatory teaching of maths up to the age of 18.

The previous government had said it would spend £600m over two years for the initial work on the now-scrapped qualification.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the Commons on Monday the cost of the proposal “rises to billions” in future years and if the government cannot afford it, they will not pay for it.

Mr Kebede said the new pay offer would probably be put to NEU members in a formal ballot in September, but said more school strikes are now unlikely to happen.

Teachers across the UK went on strike last year, including eight days by members of the NEU in England.

The industrial action only ended when they and three other top teaching unions accepted a 6.5% pay rise last July.

As well as averting strike action, Ms Reeves and her colleagues in government will hope the pay offer can help tackle the crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers.

Noel Kennedy, principal at Thistley Hough Academy in Stoke, says he has previously lost sleep over recruiting enough staff.