NEU help and advice pages comprise FAQs and other guidance which address common employment workplace issues and are entirely problem focused. These documents, along with our current top 5 FAQs posed by members, represent the quickest way to get support if you need it.
Other ways to get help
Your first point of contact is your workplace reps - they are best placed to discuss your next steps to dealing with your issue. If you don't know who that is, contact your branch for assistance. Find the contact details here.
You also contact the Employment AdviceLine - however, please be advised that this national service deals with a very high volume of emails and calls and your waiting time for a response may be long.
If you can't find the answer to your question below, speaking to your rep or branch secretary will be the quickest way to answer your query.
- This advice explains the circumstances in which schools may disclose capability information to prospective employers.
- Overcrowding is a common problem in classrooms. Unfortunately, there are no legal minimum space requirements specifying classroom dimensions. There are, however, a number of legal provisions and sources of guidance that can be drawn upon in challenging cramped teaching areas
Providing cover for absent colleagues is not a good use of teachers’ time - and the inappropriate use of support staff to provide that cover is a major and growing problem in schools.
- Some schools plan to continue with academy conversion during the COVID-19 crisis. This is despite the current lockdown meaning schools are closed to most pupils.
- We know that supply educators are particularly concerned about what will happen if they are unable to work or if schools and colleges are closed.
- Staff in independent schools should be consulted on any proposed significant changes to working conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.
- Our major priority, during this awful crisis, is the health and safety of our members who are continuing to go to work to care for vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.
- The NEU is committed to helping you ensure safety in the workplace for all staff and students in schools and colleges during this very challenging time.
- NEU advice and frequently asked questions regarding the completion of initial teacher training courses and inducation of newly qualified teachers.
- NEU advice to branch and district officers regarding Coronavirus Covid-19
NEU advice and FAQs for members in post-16 colleges regarding Coronavirus Covid-19.
- Guide for National Education Union workplace representatives and how to support your members during coronavirus outbreak.
- NEU advice on Covid-19 for members working in boarding schools during the coronavirus crisis.
- Ten points on the role of secondary schools in supporting student mental health and wellbeing during this period of change and school closures.
- This guidance is specifically for NEU Black members and should be read in conjunction with our general advice on ensuring safety for staff at greater risk.
- This National Education Union (NEU) checklist for supply members gives advice on work via supply agencies or directly with schools from 1 June onwards.
- Frequently asked questions for black educators during the coronavirus crisis.
- During the coronavirus pandemic, many NEU members will be working from home, either on days they are not on the rota to be in school, or because they fall into the categories of those who should not be in school because they are vulnerable.
- Relevant extracts from the Burgundy Book and Green Book sick pay schemes
- Frequently asked questions for special school leaders.
- Frequently asked questions for special school reps.
- Further advice will continue to be made available here as matters become clearer, along with advice on what school staff can and should do and cannot and should not do whether working in school or at home.
- For leaders in education, the first and most important consideration during this crisis is the safety and wellbeing of the staff and students of your school or college.
- Ten things you need to know on special school closures
- Twelve points on exam cancellation for GCSEs, AS, A-levels and International Baccalaureate
- Ten points on exam cancellation for GCSEs, AS-levels, A-levels and the Skills Challenge Certificate
- Interim guidance for detailed submissions made to OFQUAL, DE, CCEA and others on awarding for qualifications Summer 2020.
- The following checklist will help you to assess, in discussion with the member, whether it is safe for a physical meeting to go ahead, and if not, whether a remote, digital, meeting is appropriate.
- Schools are closed and there are lots of different opinions on what learning will look like over the next few months. In this unprecedented time, parents cannot expect that their children will be accessing a normal timetable or individual support on a regular basis.
- Read our advice and guidance for primary school educators.
- Read our advice and guidance for school leaders.
- Read our advice and guidance for secondary school educators.
- This guidance gives advice for NEU members who are in clinically vulnerable groups, or who live with or care for people who are clinically vulnerable, or who are in other groups known to be at higher risk.
- Leaders of schools that are being asked to join larger hubs should carefully evaluate the risks.
- Advice for educators on GCSEs, AS, A levels and BTEC
- Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.
As schools begin to open more widely for more pupils, teachers will be engaged in both face-to-face teaching and continuing to support remote learning.
- Coronavirus FAQs for all members who are pregnant or on maternity leave
- NEU advice for primary educators on assessment during coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many specific issues and problems in our special schools and for members who work in them.
We have compiled advice and guidance for our members, leaders and workplace reps in special schools.
We know that supply educators are particularly concerned about what will happen if they are unable to work or if schools and colleges are closed.
- The Prime Minister announced that primary schools should open more widely from 1 June, allowing reception, year 1 and Year 6 pupils to attend alongside vulnerable and key worker pupils.
- Prime Minister announced that secondary schools and sixth form colleges should not open before 15 June.
- Ten points on the role of primary schools in supporting child mental health and wellbeing during this period of change and school closures.
- NEU guidance on the creation of school hubs to bring students from different schools together.
- Ten points to ensure staff protection during the coronavirus crisis.
- What to look out for in your school/college risk assessment
- Knowledge about the greater risks of Covid-19 to specific individuals and groups has grown during the current crisis.
- Inspection briefing and checklist for NEU health and safety reps to use during the coronavirus crisis.
- Not all home learning environments are equal. Put together Create Boxes for children in your school.
- The outbreak of Covid- 19 leaves many women and girls in vulnerable and unsafe situations. Services to support women and girls remain open during this difficult time.
Individual employers are being left to decide if it is safe for their school(s) to open more widely and when by Government policy.
- The key 15 points of clarification arising from HMRC’s amended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme guidance.
- Here you will find two model letters which outline the consequences of failing to secure full compliance with the checklist.
Summer term learning during COVID-19 should be focussed on 5 key principles, whether children and young people are learning at home or in school.
- How to calculate your pay under the furlough scheme if your pay varies
- Advice on ways NEU members can argue for, and develop, adequate CPD for teaching and educational professionals.