London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 04, 2025

Teachers join mass walkout in Britain after decade-long pay squeeze

Teachers join mass walkout in Britain after decade-long pay squeeze

London school teacher Lucy Preston will miss her son's fourth birthday on Thursday because she has to work a second job in the evening as a private tutor to make sure she can pay for her childcare and mortgage.

A day earlier, in the hope of earning a pay rise that will give her stretched household budget some relief, the single mother of two will join more than 120,000 other teachers on the picket line.

Teachers across England and Wales are going on strike on Wednesday after a decade of meagre earnings in a state-funded school system that has seen many take up second jobs or leave the profession altogether.

"It's utterly heartbreaking for me," 38-year-old Preston said of missing her son's birthday. She works as an English teacher three days a week, looking after her kids on the other two days as she cannot afford childcare every day.

"If I could just make enough money to not have to do the tutoring in the evening, I would have a much, much happier life ... It's just a really, really depressing place to be in."

Hundreds of thousands of other workers including rail staff and civil servants will also walk out on Wednesday, making it Britain's biggest day of strikes in several decades when measured by the range of industries it will cover.

The National Education Union (NEU), which is organising the teachers' strikes, has asked for an above-inflation pay award funded fully by the government, so that schools can also cover other costs, from stationery to textbooks.

With inflation reaching double digits last year, teachers have seen a 23% real-terms pay cut since 2010, the union says.

Preston says mortgage payments eat into two-thirds of her 1,800 pounds-a-month ($2,230) salary, forcing her to find other ways to make money, such as renting out a room in her house to a lodger and buying cheaper, frozen food instead of fresh produce.

"The stress that causes is absolutely unbelievable ... Every single month, it is a struggle," said Preston, who has worked as a teacher since 2011.

The government, which has held unsuccessful talks with the NEU, has called its one-year, 5% pay award for teachers the highest "in a generation" and says it is investing 4 billion pounds in schools over the next two years.


'LEAVING IN DROVES'


The NEU - which has planned seven days of strikes in total - says one in four teachers leave the profession within three years of qualification, impacting the education of children.

"I can't remember when we had enough staff to comfortably cover the school," said Sydney Heighington, 33, an assistant head teacher at an east London school.

"At the moment, you've got teachers just absolutely leaving in droves," he added, noting that some of his support staff colleagues had been forced to go to food banks because of rising bills and others had simply left to find work at supermarkets.

Heighington, who teaches music, said more than a third of experienced full-time teachers and teaching staff had left his school last year. Only a fifth of those roles were filled — by trainee teachers.

Educators say schools having to pay teachers' salaries from their own pocket has left classrooms starved of money for textbooks, IT upgrades and school trips.

"You cut back on trips out, you don't go to the British Museum, you don't go and see stuff," said Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis charity that runs more than 50 schools across Britain. "So subjects become a little bit more sterile, because you're not learning at every level."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to expand mathematics education in schools but the NEU says his plan fails to address teacher shortages, which mean one in eight maths lessons are taught by a teacher unqualified in the subject.

Reports say teachers at the elite Winchester College in southern England, where Sunak attended school and was a head boy, are among those striking on Wednesday. The school declined to comment.

($1 = 0.8076 pounds)

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
×