Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe Staff at England’s largest exam board have voted to strike this summer over pay, but AQA has said results will not be delayed. UNISON said staff at board were angry bosses had “failed” to deliver a promise for pay deals that “compensate for years of wages failing to keep up with living costs”. Seventy-seven per cent of members who took part in a vote on whether to strike voted in favour of action, on a turnout of over 78 per cent. The ballot closed on April 23. The union warned that pupils could face a longer wait for their GCSE and A-level results this summer if the strikes went ahead. But the AQA accused it of “attempting to alarm students, teachers and parents, for their own purposes”, and said it would “not allow results to be delayed”. Jane Warburton, UNISON’s north west regional organiser, said staff “don’t want to have to take strike action”, but “they’re not prepared to let bosses break promises they’ve made over pay”. “After years of watching their wages fail to keep up with the cost of living, they want things to be put right. “There’s still time for the AQA to avoid any disruption. But they need to swiftly change tack and start talking to staff about how to get these issues resolved.” The union said more than 400 staff would take part in the industrial action. It is calling for pay restoration, which it said would require a 7.3 per cent rise this year. AQA ‘disappointed’ A spokesperson for the said it was “disappointed” that the union had threatened to strike, and that it had had “open and constructive negotiations with them since last autumn”. “We will not allow results to be delayed – indeed, we can assure those sitting AQA qualifications that the summer exam series will be delivered smoothly.” They added that all staff were awarded a “generous pay increase” above inflation last April. Ninety per cent received a rise of at least 4 per cent, which AQA said was “a good offer given that we are a charity”. They said fewer than 20 per cent of staff overall voted in favour of a strike, “meaning that the vast majority agree that this a fair pay increase”. Assessors, exam paper authors and customer service staff will take part in the strikes, which will affect the exam board’s Manchester headquarters, as well as its offices in Guildford and Milton Keynes. The dates have not been formalised. The exam board’s staff previously went on strike on GCSE and A-level results’ days in 2022. AQA sets more than half of GCSE and A-level papers taken in England, with about 1.4 million pupils sitting their qualifications every year.