Vanessa Clarke
Education reporter

We caught up with one teacher today on his lunch break who has decided not to join the strike action.

His school is partially closed and he now has extra pupils in his class making it “massively busier".

Many other schools in his area are fully closed so the teachers are also having to bring their own children to work.

“I don’t think striking is the answer,” he says, speaking to us anonymously.

He believes he has a slightly different perspective having only joined education in the last few years after working in other sectors.

“I agree with strikes overall” he adds but not for teachers as children have just been through lockdown and “now we are doing this - it doesn’t make sense to me".

Shona Elliot
Reporting from Liverpool

The rain hasn’t dampened the spirits of people attending the teachers rally in Liverpool today.

We heard the megaphone before we saw the crowd outside the Britannia Adelphi Hotel.

Teachers from picket lines around Liverpool have gathered in the city centre this afternoon for a mass demonstration.

Whistles are blowing, crowds are chanting and steward Peter Middleman from the teacher's union is calling the crowd to attention.

“Thank you for being here” he shouted before informing the enthusiastic crowds that nearly double the numbers expected have turned up today.

He estimates hundreds of people are there.

Throughout his speech horns are sounding repeatedly on the busy street, each one gaining another cheer from the eager crowd.

Claire Starr
BBC Radio Oxford

Teachers from Windmill Primary School in Headington, Oxford, joined hundreds of others at a march and rally in the city, led by the NEU. The group marched with homemade lollipop sticks.

Ben Habbershaw, a teacher at the school, said they wanted to carry "something bright that would stand out and was a brand for our picket line."

"We need to make a stance for the current and future generations of children who are being disadvantaged by a lack of funding from the government," he said.

Larissa Tairo
Reporting from Durham

Image source, Larissa Tairo

University workers from the UCU union are joining teachers, train drivers and the thousands of others on strike today.

Ansh Bhatnagar is a PhD student working two university jobs to make ends meet.

Since the pandemic, he has noticed class sizes increase and with a lack of substitute lecturers, he struggles to give students the support they need.

Despite this, he says the majority of students supported their lecturers in a recent vote by Durham Students’ Union.

Undergraduates Joshua Freestone and Jacob Cousens are also showing their support – despite the cold weather.

“It’s a last resort. No staff want to be out here,” says Joshua, a philosophy and politics student.

Jacob says he would like to pursue a PhD after finishing his Liberal Arts course, but he is put off by the conditions and pay.

The Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association says the strikes aren't causing major disruption to students, but the UCU union says vice chancellors must help resolve disputes to avoid further strikes.

Celestina Olulode and Alex Forster
BBC News

Image source, PA Media

"No ifs, no buts, no educations cuts" is the chant which can been heard from thousands of people marching in central London, many of whom are teachers who say they are striking as a last resort.

Crowds gathered outside Broadcasting House, with placards and a massive inflatable balloon, before union bosses Mick Lynch, RMT secretary-general and Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, led the march on its way down Regent Street towards Parliament Square.

Some parents have brought their children along - including one teacher who tells us it’s important for her daughter to see her fighting for change.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, BBC/Nathan Standley

The NEU estimates 85% of schools will be fully or partially closed by the teacher strikes today, based on a snapshot sample of 8,000 NEU school representatives and volunteers. It says more than 23,000 schools will be affected out of around 26,000 schools in England and Wales.

But the education secretary has said most schools will be open, even if there are some changes to the usual school day as a result of fewer staff.

We are expecting the government to release more figures on the impact of the strikes later - in the meantime, we've been gathering some of our own figures.

As it stands, of the 47 councils across the country we have figures from, only one council's list (Torbay) doesn't mention school closures - although that doesn't necessarily mean all schools in the area are open.

The highest number we have recorded for schools being closed is in Buckinghamshire, with a figure of 102.

The rest of the councils say the schools they look after in their area are mostly reporting only partial closures.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Image source, Hazel Shearing

Emily, a Year 3 and 4 teacher, says she is striking because of lack of supplies at school.

“I had one glue stick for 30 children for two weeks, which sounds really trivial but it’s not,” she says.

She says this kind of lack of resource is a barrier to quality learning.

Emily is by the bandstand in Leamington Spa, where striking teachers are pausing on a march between a rally in the Methodist church and the town hall.

The NEU rep who organised the rally had been worried that the church hall would be too big – but part-way through the speeches, someone interrupted to tell everyone there were people queuing outside. Strikers ended up piling in around the edges.

There are lots of children here today whose own schools will be closed– smaller ones on their parents’ laps and holding their hands, and a few teenagers sat on the church steps texting.

John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, says public sector pay rises - for workers such as nurses and teachers - could be paid for by taxing capital gains at the same level as income.

Capital gains tax is the levy you pay on the profits that you make when you sell, give away or dispose of something you own.

For example, if you make money from selling a property, you'll pay 18% capital gains tax if you are a basic-rate taxpayer. The basic rate of income tax is 20%.

Labour’s McDonnell says if the rate of capital gains tax was increased to 20% too, it would raise £17bn.

"We just need a fair taxation system," he says.

"The issue at the moment is that we seem to have a government that is redistributing wealth upwards.”

Reality Check

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told Sky News earlier that “40% of classroom teachers this year will be receiving up to 15.9% rise".

This figure combines the School Teachers' Review Body's increase and also pay progression.

Teacher pay increases in England, which came into effect in September 2022, varied, with less experienced teachers getting larger percentage increases.

The pay band for qualified teachers with the least experience is M1. They will see their pay go up 15.9% as they move up to the next band M2 in 2022-23 (outside London) which you would expect to happen to almost all of them after their first year.

This group of teachers makes up about 6% of classroom teachers in England.

Looking at experienced teachers, on the other hand, who make up more than half of all classroom teachers, are much less likely to receive a pay progression increase.

About 40% of experienced teachers are expected to move up a pay band this year and they will be getting a 9% or 10% rise.

So the Education Secretary is correct, but the “up to 15.9%” does some heavy lifting.

You can read more about teacher pay increases here.

Shona Elliott
Reporting from Merseyside

Image source, Shona Elliott

The normal chatter of learning children can be heard in two classrooms at Our Lady Queen of Peace RC Primary School in Litherland, Merseyside.

But down the hallway, in another colourful classroom with hand-drawn art pinned on the walls, all is empty and silent.

Three teachers at the school are on strike so 60 pupils across three year groups have been told to stay at home today.

Head teacher Maria Richardson says all pupils affected by the strike will have extra tuition another day, to make sure they don’t miss out on learning.

She went on to say that they made the decision to partially open the school after carrying out a risk assessment and deliberating with the chair of governors.

Speaking about the teachers from her school on strike, Maria adds: “They’re doing it for the future of education.”

Image source, Shona Elliott

More here from PMQs - the prime minister's been asked whether he will negotiate with working people.

Rishi Sunak responds by saying teachers have been given "the highest pay rise in 30 years", including a 9% raise for newly-qualified teachers.

"I am clear that our children's education is precious and they deserve to be in school, being taught," he says.

"And actually the party opposite [Labour] would do well to say that strikes are wrong and we should be backing our school children."

Oliver Smith
Business reporter, BBC News

The rate at which consumer prices rise at, known as inflation, is forecast to fall this year.

Tony Wilson at the Institute of Employment Studies says that because of those forecasts, unions could stick to their guns on pay demands, at least in the short term, but also could see the government plan to hold the line for longer.

"The risks for the unions now is if we see both inflation and private sector pay growth starting to fall later this year, then it’s definitely going to be harder for them to persuade the public that public sector pay rises of eight to 10% would be justified," Wilson says.

"The window of opportunity [for unions] is probably these next couple of months, and that’s also why the government may well be happy for these negotiations to drag out a little longer.”

He adds that a fall in inflation wouldn’t mean that public sector workers feel better off, due to the rate prices have risen by over past couple of years.

Sallie George
Reporting from Harlow, Essex

Image source, Sallie George

It’s a very different day for catering staff at Passmores Academy in Harlow, Essex.

Normally serving lunches to over a thousand children, today they are only expecting to feed around 250, as the school has had to tell some children to stay at home due to striking teaching staff.

Today's menu is vegetable pasta, or baked potatoes with cheese and beans.

Catering manager Jackie Montgomery says the canteen served a roast dinner yesterday - a day earlier than usual - to make sure children had a good meal in advance of the strike day.

"Some of these children don’t have dinner at home," she adds.

The mass strikes were briefly raised at Prime Minister's Questions today, with Rishi Sunak saying Labour is allowing a culture of protests and its leader cannot stand up to union bosses.

The prime minister says Labour leader Keir Starmer is siding with hard-line protesters, such as Just Stop Oil campaigners, while Tory MPs stand with school children.

"He can't stand up to union bosses, he can't stand up for school children," says Sunak.

Starmer responds and says Sunak is trying to blame the opposition for failing to handle the industrial disputes.

Follow here for live updates from PMQs.

Is this a new winter of discontent?published at 12:24 Greenwich Mean Time 1 February 2023

12:24 GMT 1 February 2023

James Cook
Scotland Editor, BBC News

Walkout Wednesday? A new winter of discontent? Whatever you call it, this is the biggest day of industrial action in decades.

Trade unions may have fewer members than they did in their heyday, and legislation makes it harder for them to take co-ordinated action, but they can still pack a punch.

According to official statistics, union membership peaked in 1979 at 13.2 million members but had fallen to 6.4 million by 2021, external despite population growth over the period.

Since 1995, the proportion of employees who are members of a union dropped from around a third to below a quarter.

But membership tends to be higher in the public sector which is where we have seen much of the impact, driven, say trade unionists, by the struggles of ordinary working people to feed their families and heat their homes.

The fact that inflation remains near a 40-year high is probably the most important factor behind the current industrial strife.

And although pay has been rising at its fastest rate in more than 20 years, it is still failing to keep up with the rapidly rising cost of living.

Vanessa Clarke
Education reporter

Image source, Sally Haslewood

In Sally Haslewood's home in Harrogate, there is a juggle between work and home learning today.

Her daughters' secondary school has closed to all pupils except exam classes and vulnerable students.

Sally says she's grateful the school gave them an early heads up last week and are providing some remote learning today - since schools have no legal obligation to do so.

The girls are following a normal school timetable so have already had two online lessons this morning and will soon have their break.

Sally, who runs the online parenting network Mumbler, says her job allows her to be flexible so she “is more fortunate than a lot of people”, especially those with primary-aged children trying to learn at home.

Her daughters are in Years 7 and 9 and are old enough to look after themselves, so she can also get some work done.

She says it’s “so far, so good”.

Teachers have been calling into BBC Radio 5Live this morning to share their thoughts on today's walkout by members of the National Education Union.

A teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, says some of the things she deals with on a daily basis are "unbeliveable".

She also says teachers really want a pay rise funded by the government and not by schools themselves.

Emma, from Liverpool, was a teacher for 26 years and left to start her own business. She says that now her quality of life is "totally different".

Katy Austin
Transport correspondent

Mick Whelan, the boss of the train drivers' union Aslef, has so far been unimpressed with the proposals put forward by train companies.

He thinks they would involve sacrificing hard-won working conditions, for a real-terms pay cut.

Although train drivers’ salaries are higher than many other rail jobs, Whelan believes the public support their cause.

Steve Montgomery, chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, told me the industry wants to give staff a pay increase, but that reforms are needed to "stop us having to take additional funding from the taxpayer”.

He insists the industry is looking for more flexibility, not for anyone to work longer hours for less pay.

The RMT, Britain's largest rail union, has confirmed it has received a "revised offer" from Network Rail.

Rail workers such as guards and signalling staff that are members of the RMT union are not striking today, but like the train drivers that are taking industrial action, they are still locked in disputes over pay and working conditions.

The latest offer from Network Rail to the RMT is the same in terms of pay - a backdated 5% rise for 2022 and a 4% increase in 2023, but some of the conditions are different.

For example, conditions around annual leave and maintenance workers’ contracts have been tweaked.

The RMT said "no decision" had been made on the proposals and that it will now consult its members.

Malu Cursino
BBC News Live reporter

Caledonian Road, another residential area in central London, also feels quite calm today.

I've been walking up and down, past quite a few cafes, and they are all relatively quiet.

Cally Pool usually has activities during the day for the nearby schools. But today, given the teachers' strikes, most of the pre-planned swim sessions have been cancelled and it's opening its doors to members of the public from 10am until 3pm instead.

It’s now around 11am and no families have come in yet.

The team are hoping it'll get busier throughout the day, but worry some parents are already at work and will be unable to bring their kids until much later.