AFTER seven days of national and regional action by teachers across the country, the government finally provided a pay offer to teachers in England. Unlike the offer in Wales (8 per cent pay rise across two years, mostly funded), we were offered only 4.5 per cent — 4 per cent of which is to be taken out of “existing” school budgets. The offer has been swiftly rejected by around 98 per cent of voters.

To onlookers, this may seem like an excruciating defeat for workers in education. The offer in Wales, whilst inadequate to many, is far better than in England. Teachers in Scotland have secured a more enviable pay rise of about 14 per cent fully funded. So why the disparity?

The success of strikes in Scotland and Wales largely comes down to the scale of unity within the workforce. NEU support staff in England were the only group whose ballot didn’t reach the threshold of 50 per cent turnout. This meant they could not strike alongside teachers in England, though many wanted to.