Teachers’ talks with Gillian Keegan fail to dispel strike threat

‘No concrete progress’ towards avoiding action affecting English schools at education secretary’s meeting with unions

The threat of strike action still hangs over schools in England after talks between teaching unions and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, ended with “no concrete progress”, though the door remains open for further discussions.

Union leaders described the meeting as constructive, but with no extra money for teachers on the table, strikes could be just weeks away. Ballots for strike action among hundreds of thousands of union members are due to close this week.