Teachers are to begin a series of strikes from this summer in a continuing row over, pay, pensions and workload, it was announced today.

Schools across the country are likely to be affected by the rolling programme of walkouts, which will begin in the North West on June 27.

More are set to follow in the autumn term, with the stage set for a national strike before Christmas.

The move, announced by England's two biggest teaching unions, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the NASUWT, is an escalation of a continuing dispute with the Government.

Both unions have already been taking part in industrial action, short of strikes, but NUT general secretary Christine Blower insisted that they have had no engagement by Education Secretary Michael Gove over the dispute.

She said: "We have decided we must make an announcement that we will move to strike action in a bid to get the Secretary of State to listen seriously, and to seek to achieve a resolution in this dispute."

She said that strikes will begin on June 27 in schools in local authorities in the North West.

"There will be further action in the autumn and a national strike to be called before Christmas."

There will also be a series of rallies, in England and Wales, Ms Blower said.

The unions have three key issues covering the teachers' pension scheme, the Government's decision to move to performance-related pay, and are also calling for "genuine engagement" by Mr Gove over their dispute.

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: "We have three very reasonable demands that we are making to the Secretary of State that can stop disruption to schools from June onwards."

She added: "The time has come for the Secretary of State to listen to the concerns of teachers and school leaders.

"He has recklessly pursued a relentless attack on the profession and teachers' patience has been exhausted."

The last time the unions took part in a national walkout was in November as part of a wider public sector strike over pensions.

A DfE spokesman said: "We are very disappointed that the NUT and NASUWT have decided to take strike action, which less than a quarter of teachers actually voted for. Industrial action will disrupt pupils' education, hugely inconvenience parents and damage the profession's reputation in the eyes of the public at a time when our reforms are driving up standards across the country.

"We think giving schools the freedom to reward good performance is much fairer than current arrangements which see the vast majority of teachers automatically getting a pay rise each year. We have met frequently with the NUT and NASUWT to discuss their concerns and will continue to do so."