GCSE and A-level Exam Board AQA Have Announced A Three-Day Strike Over Wages.

According to the AQA union, up to 180 members plan to walk away from their positions on the 29, 30 and 31st of July - a critical time for students who have written their GCSE and A-level exams.AQA are responsible for approximately half of all GCSE and A-level examinations and have assured they have "robust plans" in place to ensure that students will still receive their exam results on time. However, the union group have admitted that students who are awaiting exam results this summer in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could face delays as a result of their action.

The union have said AQA staff were given a 0.6% pay increase last year and offered a 3% rise this year.

But AQA disputes that figure and says that although 3% was offered for "all staff" this year, the "average pay increase" would be 5.6%.

Lizanne Devonport, the Union official, has said that AQA staff have been worried they would "no longer be able to make ends meet" due to the cost of living crisis, resulting in the strike which they also deemed to be the only option.

"Pay has been falling behind prices for years and 3% isn't a wage rise - with costs spiralling, it's a pay cut," she said.

"Workers only strike as a last resort. They'd rather be doing the jobs that they're proud of. They don't want to disrupt students and know how important exam results are to them."

The strike is only scheduled to take place for 72 hours however, the union has warned that their action was "likely to escalate" unless negotiations on wages reopened.

AQA are not on board with the planned action as a spokesperson said that the recent staff pay rise has been "affordable and higher than many organisations" and that "the vast majority" of AQA staff did not support a strike.The spokesperson continued by stating that only5% of the workforce "and well under half of Unison's own members" actually voted for strike action."It's a shame that Unison is claiming otherwise, as this is wrong and only serves needlessly to alarm students and teachers," he said.