AQA exam board members will be striking from August 17 to August 21, throwing results days into doubt.
There will be 180 workers involved in the walkout, including results managers, heads of curriculum and customers service staff.
It was confirmed by Unison, with it potentially leading to chaos on A-Level results day.
On August 18, the second day of the strike, pupils will be trying to reach AQA staff members to speak about their grades, especially if they want to seek a resit.
However, some have been concerned it could lead to a delay of results day altogether. Here is everything you need to know about the situation.
When are the strike days?
August 17 to August 21 is just the tip of the iceberg, as Unison has confirmed more on the horizon.
After this, another has been confirmed to be taking place on August 24 to August 28, directly impacting GCSE results day as well, which takes place on August 25.
It comes after a strike has already taken place from August 12 to August 15, with 79 members of staff involves.
Will A-Level and GCSE remark results be delayed?
The strikes have sparked understandable concerns that students would have to wait longer for their results, putting on even more stress to what is a worrying time to begin with.
However, the AQA has confirmed that results days would not be affected by the strikes, as only a small amount of staff members are actually involved.
Even though 180 staff members may seem like a lot, there are 1,200 workers in total, making the walkout negligible for students.
A spokesperson for the AQA explained: “We’re dismayed that Unison has chosen to deliberately target students like this, but it won’t stop us from delivering the exam results our learners so richly deserve or supporting everyone afterwards.
“We have robust contingency plans in place to ensure that industrial action has no effect on results, and we successfully tested these plans during the previous industrial action in July.
“Our records show that only 4% of our total workforce took part in that industrial action – and the remaining 96% are absolutely committed to never letting our learners down.”
Why are AQA exam board members striking?
The strike is a result of an ongoing pay dispute, with both Unison and Unite both recently rejecting a 3% pay increase back in July.
Vicky Knight, Unison’s North West region manager explained: “We understand that there may be an impact on results day, particularly around student queries, administrative errors, customer service enquiries etc.
“Employees at AQA are disappointed the company will neither talk to them nor come back with a realistic pay offer. This leaves staff with no choice but to escalate their action.
“Disrupting A-level results day is not a decision anyone has taken lightly.
“However, AQA staff have been treated appallingly and only bold action will get their employer to the table.
“AQA must come with a serious offer to prevent any further disruption.”
