Unions

The latest news and analysis on teaching unions in the UK, including teacher strikes, pay disputes, industrial action and more

Thursday

2nd Oct 2025

1,000 school employers urged to protect staff against ‘Ofsted risk’
School leaders’ union rallies its members to ask their employer to carry out a wellbeing risk assessment over Ofsted’s new school inspections
More than 1,000 school employers have been urged to take action against 'Ofsted risk'

Sunday

28th Sep 2025

Phillipson pushes back at criticism over Year 8 reading tests
Education secretary stops short of confirming plans for mandatory reading test in Year 8, but defends the testing of students’ literacy skills
A girl reading a book

Saturday

27th Sep 2025

Education unions call for two-child benefit limit to be scrapped
Government urged to ‘meet schools in the middle’ as unions highlight impact of poverty on learning
Education unions calls for two-child benefit limit to be scrapped

Friday

26th Sep 2025

Heads fear new Ofsted inspections will be worse for wellbeing
More than seven in 10 school leaders are not satisfied with Ofsted’s new inspection system, a poll of ASCL members suggests
Woman Ofsted inspector

Friday

19th Sep 2025

Ofsted judging schools on attainment ‘could be biggest problem’
The watchdog has urgent questions to answer about its ‘secure fit’ approach to grading schools under its new inspection system, warns school leaders’ union
Woman Ofsted inspector
Exclusive

Thursday

18th Sep 2025

9 in 10 heads back industrial action over Ofsted inspections
NAHT urges Ofsted to put brakes on new inspections as snap poll shows vast majority of its members would support exploring industrial action
Industrial action
Schools gender pay gap is ‘grossly unfair’
Headteachers’ leaders urge DfE to carry out a detailed pay equality analysis, as report highlights persistent gender gaps
Unfair proportion of doughnut

Tuesday

16th Sep 2025

Welsh heads to get ‘protected leave’ during weekends and holidays
School leaders must be given ‘uninterrupted rest’, Wales’ education secretary has told local authorities after years of campaigning by NAHT Cymru
Welsh heads to get 'protected leave' during weekends and holidays

Wednesday

10th Sep 2025

9 in 10 oppose Ofsted changes in heads’ union poll
Snap polls by NAHT and NEU show respondents strongly opposed to Ofsted’s report card inspections
Report card being thrown in bin

Tuesday

9th Sep 2025

‘Grave concerns’ for school leaders over ‘punitive’ Ofsted plans
Heads’ union to ask its executive and council if members should be urged to withdraw from work as Ofsted inspectors
Headteachers' leaders have issued a warning over Ofsted's new plans for inspections
Ofsted’s new inspection framework: all you need to know
Ofsted is pushing ahead with its plan for a five-point grading scale but announces a series of changes to school inspections launching this term
Ofsted's first inspections in November under its new system will be voluntary.

Tuesday

2nd Sep 2025

Teaching ‘an unattractive outlier’ due to lack of remote working
School leaders’ union says job has never been harder, and warns of need for more flexibility
Monopoly board with car