TEACHERS could strike this autumn if Labour fails to offer a funded and above-inflation pay award by June, the leader of Britain’s largest education union said today.

National Education Union’s (NEU) annual conference voted to launch a formal ballot on strike action if the government’s final teacher pay and funding offer for 2025/26 “remains unacceptable.”

The Department for Education has said a 2.8 per cent rise would be “appropriate” and “maintain the competitiveness” of teachers’ pay in its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

The urgent motion called for a formal industrial action ballot to be launched if the final outcome of the STRB process “remains unacceptable,” or if the government does not announce real-terms funding increases in the spending review in June.

It was carried in private. NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said conference’s clear view was that an unfunded rise would be “completely unacceptable” as it would result in 76 per cent of primary schools and 94 per cent of secondary schools having to make cuts.

He added: “I’m having conversations with other unions all the time, not just education but also health where there are great concerns around 2.8 pay awards being made this year.”

Calling the underfunding of education “indefensible,” he urged Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to publish the recommendations of the STRB immediately.

This would allow the union’s executive and membership to “determine what is acceptable.

“Unfunded pay awards lead to job cuts, they lead to cutting resources and they lead to declining quality of education for our young people,” he added.

“One thing that was very clear during that debate was that our members feel schools are at breaking point now.

“What we would like to see is a series of above-inflation pay awards that fundamentally make teacher pay more competitive because that’s the real issue.”

NEU teacher members in state schools in England have overwhelmingly rejected the government’s recommendation in an indicative ballot, with more than four in five willing to take action to secure an increased pay award.

Mr Kebede was “very convinced” that a formal ballot would pass the 50 per cent legal turnout threshold, adding: “The government do need to recognise it’s in their hands and the membership have been really clear — schools are in crisis.

“Labour’s base, its core vote is already dissatisfied with its current positions.”