Bolton College Sixth Form teachers out on strike again

Around 10 picketers, ranging from teachers who have been at the college for years to those who have recently joined the profession, gathered outside the building to make their voices heard.

(Image: Leah Collins) The Deane Road college is the largest further education college in the borough with 1,700 students, many of whom have special educational needs.

In September, most teachers in schools and academies received a 5.5 per cent pay reward, but sixth form colleges were not included in the pay uplift.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) are demanding that sixth form teachers get the same pay rise offered to teachers at schools and academies sixth form colleges.

"The government awarded the 5.5 per cent funding to the academies and sixth forms, but because we’re not attached to a school, we don’t get any funding,” said Jennifer Firth, the NEU rep for the sixth-form college and A-Level history and law teacher.

(Image: Leah Collins) “We are all teachers doing the same job at the end of the day. For us to give ourselves funding, this would affect the students and come out of the budget meant for staff and equipment.”

Staff are set to go on strike again tomorrow, Wednesday, as well as December 13 and January 7, 8 and 9.

Last month, 32 of the 39 sixth form colleges voted in favour for strike action, achieving 97 per cent of the ballot vote.

Around 80,000 students have been impacted by the industrial action.

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Tom Machin, who teaches politics and sociology at the college said: “We were here last week and we’re here today as we are unhappy with how the government has handled public sector pay rises, we aren’t academies to we get left out.

“We want funding to support the teachers, there’s already a retention crisis of staff affecting the future of teaching – specifically with maths and science teachers.

“It affects us in the long term, academies can attract better teachers and resources. We want to see that increased funding, we don’t understand why we’ve been left out.

(Image: Martini Archive) “The October Budget provided an additional £300m revenue funding for further education to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs.

“We need clarification on how this will be distributed, we’ve been left in the dark.”

Samira Patel, the course leader for criminology and sociology, said: “It’s bizarre why some people have a pay rise and others don’t, it doesn’t make sense.

“I thought it was a mistake at first.

(Image: Leah Collins) She warned that many of the students at the college come from deprived backgrounds and have also suffered because of the cost-of-living crisis.

Being exempt from a pay rise makes it difficult for the college to retain and employ staff, as well as reducing access to specialist resources for students with special educational needs.

Teachers have already participated in a series of strike days, but the recent announcement of new strike dates marks a significant step up in the dispute with action now set to go on indefinitely until a resolution is found.

Mark Heslop, who teaches A-Level maths at the college, said: “When they announced new funding for schools and excluded the sixth forms, I thought it was an admin error at first.

“You don’t expect it with a Labour government, they usually fund education well. I’m also surprised it hasn’t been sorted by now.

"Any pay increases we introduce would have to come out of the budget meant for students, which should be going towards them.”

Last week, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “Ensuring people have the skills they need for the future is crucial to this government’s number one mission to grow the economy.

“We recognise the vital role that further education, including sixth form colleges, play in this.

“Sixth form colleges are responsible for the setting of appropriate pay for their workforce and for managing their own industrial relations.

“The October Budget provided an additional £300m revenue funding for further education to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs.

“The department will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed.”

Got a story? Email me at Leah.Collins@newsquest.co.uk