The National Education Union (NEU) has launched a formal strike ballot over pay affecting around 400 teachers working at 14 independent schools run by United Learning, the Salisbury Journal has reported.

United Learning has made a two-to-three percent pay offer, depending on the workplace, according to the union.

If adopted, the NEU this would “see teachers’ pay rates in many of the trust’s independent schools fall even further below the levels set by the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document for state schools”.

The union called for United Learning to make an eight per cent pay offer and said it seeks a “commitment of parity with pay scales in the state sector”.

The ballot opened on Wednesday 26 February and closes on 26 March. Strikes would take place in the week commencing 28 April.

The NEU’s general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “It is regrettable that United Learning has pushed so many of our members to this point.

“The pay offer to those working in its 14 independent schools is not only inadequate but insulting.

“We cannot allow a two-tier pay system to stand, especially within the trust itself.

“United Learning will find it harder to recruit and retain teachers, if pay falls further behind other state and independent schools.

“It makes no sense to persist with this self-defeating strategy of under-paying staff.

“Strike action is always a last resort. Our members care deeply about education and its role in transforming pupils’ lives.

“They do no less a job than their state school counterparts and should be remunerated accordingly.”

A United Learning spokesperson commented: “We are confident that our staff will see through the efforts of the hard left elements of the NEU to incite strike action.

“This is not in their interests, nor in the interests of their schools.

“We believe that staff in our schools are well aware of the financial challenges facing the sector at the moment and understand that there is no more money for a further pay rise at the present time.”