The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

for school teachers in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. It was a member of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

. In March 2017, NUT members endorsed a proposed merger with the

Association of Teachers and Lecturers The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) was a trade union, teachers' union and professional association, affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, in the United Kingdom representing educators from nursery and primary education to furth ...

to form a new union known as the

National Education Union The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers an ...

, which came into existence on 1 September 2017. The union recruited only qualified teachers and those training to be qualified teachers into membership and on dissolution had almost 400,000 members, making it the largest teachers' union in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Campaigns

The NUT campaigned on educational issues and working conditions for its members. Among the NUT's policies in 2017 were: * Fair pay for teachers * Work-life balance for teachers * Against

academies An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

* Abolition of National Curriculum Tests (SATs) * One union for all teachers The NUT offered legal protection to its members. The NUT established two financial services companies for teachers, Teachers Assurance in 1877 and the

Teachers Building Society Teachers Building Society is a mutual British financial institution founded in 1966 by the National Union of Teachers (now the National Education Union). It is a member of the Building Societies Association. The Society offers mortgages which ...

in 1966.

History

The NUT was established at a meeting at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

on 25 June 1870 as the National Union of Elementary Teachers (NUET) to represent all school teachers in England and Wales combining a number of local teacher associations which had formed across the country following the 1870 Education Act. After toying with the idea of changing the name to the National Union of English Teachers, the name National Union of Teachers (NUT) was finally adopted at Annual Conference in April 1889. In 1919, in response to an NUT referendum approving the principle of equal pay, a

ginger group The Ginger Group was not a formal political party in Canada, but a faction of radical Progressive and Labour Members of Parliament who advocated socialism. The term ginger group also refers to a small group with new, radical ideas trying to act ...

, the National Association of Men Teachers (NAMT), was formed within the NUT to further the interests of male teachers. The NAMT changed its name in 1920 to the National Association of Schoolmasters (NAS) and seceded finally from the NUT in 1922. The secession came about indirectly following a decision at the NAS Conference that year to prohibit NAS members from continuing to also be members of the NUT after the 31 December 1922. The NAS is now amalgamated into the

NASUWT The NASUWT is a TUC-affiliated trade union representing teachers, including headteachers, throughout the United Kingdom. The early years 1919–1976; breakaway and the formation of a new union The origins of the NASUWT can be traced back to ...

, the second-largest teaching union in the UK. The NUT first established its offices at 7 Adam Street, Adelphi, London WC on the appointment of the first full-time Secretary in 1873. In 1889 it moved its headquarters to Bolton House, 67/71 Russell Square, London WC. In 1915, it moved its headquarters to Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD, where it has remained ever since, except during the Second World War, when the NUT rented

Toddington Manor Toddington Manor is a 19th-century country house in the English county of Gloucestershire, near the village of Toddington. It is in the gothic style and was designed by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley for himself and built be ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in order to avoid air raids. The march

Leadership

General Secretaries

The General Secretary was the leader of the NUT. From 1989, the General Secretary was elected by the union's membership, with each term lasting five years. * William Lawson, 1870–1873 * Thomas Heller, 1873–1891 *

James Yoxall Sir James Henry Yoxall (15 July 1857 – 2 February 1925) was a British Liberal Party politician and trade unionist. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham West from 1895 to 1918. He was General Secretary of the National Union of ...

, 1892–1924 *

Frank Goldstone Sir Frank Walter Goldstone (7 December 1870 – 25 December 1955) was a British teacher, trade unionist and politician. Biography Goldstone was born in Bishopwearmouth, County Durham (now Sunderland) on 7 December 1870. The third son of a staine ...

, 1924–1931 *

Frederick Mander Sir Frederick Mander FEIS (12 July 1883 – 27 February 1964) was a headmaster and trade unionist and the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) from 1931 to 1947. Mander was born in Luton in Bedfordshire, the son of Arthur ...

, 1931–1947 * Ronald Gould, 1947–1970 *

Edward Britton Sir Edward Louis Britton Order of the British Empire, CBE (4 December 1909 – 3 January 2005) was a British people, British trade union leader. Britton studied at Bromley Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he edited the ''Cam ...

, 1970–1975 *

Fred Jarvis Frederick Frank Jarvis CBE (8 September 1924 – 15 June 2020) was a British trade union leader. He was President of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 1952 to 1954 and General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) from 1975 ...

, 1975–1989 *

Doug McAvoy Doug McAvoy (2 January 1939 – 12 May 2019) was a British trade union leader. He was General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 1989 to 2004. A teacher, McAvoy was secretary of Newcastle-upon-Tyne NUT and became a member of the ...

, 1989–2004 *

Steve Sinnott Steve Sinnott (24 June 1951 – 5 April 2008) was the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 2004 until his death in 2008. Born in Liverpool, Sinnott became deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers in 1994 in ...

, 2004–2008 (died in office) *

Christine Blower Christine Blower, Baroness Blower (born 20 April 1951) was the eleventh General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, a trade union representing qualified teachers across England and Wales. In March 2018, she stood for election and was sh ...

, 2008–2016 (acting until May 2009) *

Kevin Courtney Kevin Courtney (born 16 August 1959) is a Welsh former school teacher, and the joint (along with Mary Bousted) General Secretary of the National Education Union, the largest teachers' trade union for England and Wales. Early life He was born ...

, 2016–2017

Deputy General Secretaries

:1960s: Ernest Naisbitt :1970:

:1974:

:c.1989: Mary Hufford :1994:

:2005:

:2010:

:2016: ''Post vacant''

Presidents

Annual Conference

The NUT annual conference took place every spring. The timing always coincided with Easter weekend: starting on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

and ending on

Easter Tuesday Easter Tuesday is the third day of the Octave of Easter and is a holiday in some areas. Easter Tuesday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the third day of Eastertide and analogously in the Byzantine Rite is the third day of Bright We ...

and took place in various locations. The last NUT Conference was held in Cardiff in 2017. Following the NUT amalgamation with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers on 1 September 2017 there will be a National Education Union - NUT Section held in Brighton in 2018.

Fred and Anne Jarvis Award

Named after former General Secretary Fred Jarvis and his late wife, the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award was established in 2007 and was presented annually by the NUT to individuals other than NUT members who campaigned tirelessly for all children and young people. For a list of winners of the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award see List of Fred and Anne Jarvis Award winners.

References

External links

NUT website

NUT YouTube channel

NEU website

Catalogue of the NUT archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{Authority control 1870 establishments in England 2017 disestablishments in England Education in England Education in Guernsey Education in Jersey Education in the Isle of Man Education in Wales Education International Education trade unions Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Teacher associations based in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1870 Trade unions disestablished in 2017 Trade unions in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in London