Teachers at Capital City College (CCC) have launched strike action in protest against what they describe as “intolerable” plans to freeze sixth-form pay until salaries align with the rest of the group’s teaching staff.
Around 60 teachers at the Angel sixth-form campus in Islington, formerly City and Islington College, walked out on Tuesday in the first of six scheduled strike days. Action is set to continue until Friday 17 November, with further escalation planned in the coming weeks.
The dispute arises from CCC’s proposal to freeze sixth-form teachers’ salaries for two to three years in order to address what management has described as a “discrepancy” between their contracts and the pay of general further education lecturers. Many Angel-based teachers are on legacy sixth-form terms, which are traditionally more generous than standard FE conditions.
According to the National Education Union (NEU), more than 98 per cent of members backed strike action on a turnout exceeding 80 per cent. Nick Lawson, NEU representative and teacher at the Angel campus, said: “The plans to freeze pay were intolerable to members.”
Union representatives argue that staff are facing a “sustained attack” on pay and conditions, highlighting that experienced teachers on sixth-form contracts currently earn £1,100 less than the national sixth-form rate. Teachers on these contracts, which remain under national bargaining arrangements, are expected to earn between £32,178 and £49,725 this year.
The walkouts will continue over the next two weeks, with strikes planned for Friday and Saturday next week, coinciding with a CCC open day, before resuming from Wednesday to Friday in the following week. Around 60 of the 81 teaching staff at the Angel site are expected to participate.
A CCC spokesperson said the college “respected the right of teachers and the NEU to strike over the historic pay issue” but stressed that increases must be fair and financially sustainable. They added: “Staff pay remains a priority, but any increase must be equitable for all our staff and financially sustainable so we can continue investing in the resources and services we provide for our students.”
The dispute highlights growing tensions across the further education sector, where staff have repeatedly raised concerns about pay disparities, workload pressures and funding cuts.
