An education body agrees sixth form teachers should be given a pay rise - but does not condone strike action, which is set to take place at a borough college and 31 others.

Teachers are planning to walk out at Holy Cross College on Manchester Road on Thursday, November 28, Tuesday, December 3 and Wednesday, December 4.

It comes after a 97 per cent vote in favour of industrial action by National Education Union (NEU) members who teach in 32 sixth form colleges, including Holy Cross, for an above-inflation pay award.

The decision comes after the government announced in July that teachers and leaders in England will receive a fully-funded 5.5 per cent pay rise this year.

Last week, NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said "no teacher wants to take strike action" and the union "remains open to negotiation".

But he added: "The money is clearly there for a fair, above-inflation pay award for all sixth form college teachers and our members will stand firm until they get pay justice".

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On behalf of Holy Cross, Graham Baird, director of HR services at the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said: “We agree with the NEU that the government’s decision to exclude sixth form colleges from the funding to increase staff pay is baffling.

“We also agree that this decision undermines our highly effective system of collective pay bargaining.

“However, we cannot condone strike action being taken in sixth form colleges and we will continue to urge the government to avoid this action by providing the additional funding required to match the pay award made to staff in schools."

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In response, a spokesperson for the Department for Education 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.”