The Sixth Form Bolton is one of several institutions in the North West set to be affected by strike action this week.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) at the college on Deane Road are set to walk out on Wednesday, November 30, as well as teachers at 15 other institutions all over the region.

Sixth form bosses however say the college will open as usual but declined to comment on the industrial action taking place.

The strike action, of which 88.5 per cent of members are in favour, is a response to the offer of a five per cent pay rise for most teachers, seen as a real-terms pay cut due to the rate of inflation. 

Peter Middleman, regional secretary for the NEU, called on the Department for Education to fund an 'inflation-plus' pay rise instead.

Mr Middleman said: "Like in primary and secondary schools, dedicated professionals in sixth form colleges are being rewarded for their efforts with the largest real-terms pay cut in living memory. This is something our members are simply unwilling to tolerate from a government of millionaires and billionaires.

"The strength of the mandate for the strike speaks volumes: enough is enough. If the government led by Rishi Sunak is serious about a post-Brexit and post-pandemic recovery based on rich knowledge and high skills, we need to see immediate evidence that they are prepared to release significant funding in order to help save the sector and ensure current and future generations have the same choice and opportunity for study that those presiding over the sector had in their own teenage years."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said it is up to the colleges to set salaries and stressed it is investing more than £1bn into the sector in the academic year, starting 2024, compared to the last academic year.

Bolton Sixth Form College declined to comment on the strike action, but a spokesperson said it is operating 'as normal' on Wednesday.

These are the colleges affected:

Ashton Sixth Form College, Ashton-under-Lyne
Aquinas College, Stockport
Birkenhead Sixth Form College, Birkenhead
Blackpool Sixth Form College, Blackpool
The Sixth Form Bolton, Bolton
Cardinal Newman College, Preston
Carmel College, St Helens
Holy Cross College, Bury
Loreto College, Manchester
Oldham Sixth Form College, Oldham
Priestley College, Warrington
Rochdale Sixth Form College, Rochdale
St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Wigan
Sir John Dean's College, Northwich
Winstanley College, Wigan
Xaverian College, Manchester