NEU | Schools Week

Academy autonomy ‘has no positive impact in the classroom’

Almost half of academy leaders believe that the extra autonomy granted to academies has no positive impact in the classroom, according to new analysis by the Sutton Trust. Thirty per cent of academy senior leaders who took part in a poll on the additional autonomy that comes from academy status said it had “no effect” […]

A NEU dawn: NUT and ATL hold final conferences

The National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers held their last conferences as separate unions over the Easter break. The two sections will meet as one amalgamated National Education Union next year. Schools Week’s political editor Freddie Whittaker attended so you didn’t have to. 1. Ofsted ‘overstepped the mark’ during hijab row […]

Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint general secretaries of the National Education Union

As I mount the steps to the National Education Union’s London headquarters, I can’t help feeling disappointment that the joint general secretaries turned down the idea of a photoshoot on a bright blue tandem. Nothing that would highlight their stark height difference, the press officer insists. Union business is a serious game, it appears. Almost […]

International Women’s Day: NEU demands action on teaching gender pay gap

The country’s largest education union has demanded action to make teaching a “genuinely equal” profession for women. To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, the National Education Union has challenged the government to address the fact that while teaching is a predominantly female job, women teachers are still paid less on average than men, […]

New figures: 18,000 schools face funding cuts

Education unions have revised upwards their predictions for the number of schools facing funding cuts to almost 18,000. The coalition of organisations behind the popular School Cuts website say 557 more schools face real-terms cuts in their funding by 2019 than originally thought. The website, run by the National Education Union, the National Association of […]

Union leaders spurn NEU’s merger call

Education unions are not queuing up to join the National Education Union, the new teacher union created by a merger of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). None has any plans to join the union or wants to discuss the matter, Schools Week has learned. The news […]

No more ‘divide and conquer’ in education

The decision taken by members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) to amalgamate into a single union, the National Education Union (NEU), is significant and historic. It is a recognition that times are changing, and that teacher unions are changing too. The trend towards union mergers […]