Sixth-form teachers strike amid pay dispute

Teachers at some sixth-form colleges in Sussex have walked out amid a pay dispute with the government.

Some 8,000 students at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC), Varndean College and Collyer's in Horsham are being affected by three consecutive days of strike action that started on Tuesday.

The National Education Union said it was taking action after the government failed to resolve a "clear pay discrepancy" between non-academy sixth-form colleges and their academy counterparts.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "Sixth form colleges are responsible for the setting of appropriate pay for their workforce and for managing their own industrial relations."

"The October Budget provided an additional £300m revenue funding for further education to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs," they added.

"The department will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed."

The union said it had hoped the government would include teachers at 40 non-academy colleges in its funding for a 5.5% pay increase across the rest of the profession, but that they had been left out.

"Our members will not back down on this issue," said Phil Clarke, South East regional secretary of the National Education Union. "It is simply unjust."

"Sixth form college teachers do the same job with the same commitment and the same importance," he continued.

"We will never accept a two-tier workforce."

Mr Clarke warned lower pay at colleges would ultimately impact students as staff would leave for better pay amid a "recruitment crisis" in the sector.

He said the union was willing to resolve the dispute with government.

"No teacher wants to be taking strike action," said Mr Clarke. "They want to be in classrooms doing what they do best: teaching."

Staff at the three colleges held strikes last year.