ACROSS Devon 49 schools have been hit by today’s teacher’s strike.

The 49 schools were listed on the county council’s website as being affected.

Four of them were fully closed and the remainder partially closed.

Among the partially closed schools were Queen Elizabeth’s School in Crediton and Copplestone Primary School.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England and Wales are out on strike today, Wednesday, with more industrial action planned in the following weeks.

The biggest teachers' strike in years is going ahead after unions said the education secretary ‘squandered the opportunity’ to avoid action – while firefighters have voted overwhelmingly to walkout after experiencing what their union says is a 12% drop in real-terms earnings.

The teachers' strike comes after last-minute talks were held by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan on Monday in a bid to resolve the pay dispute before planned strikes this week.

A spokesperson for Devon County Council said: “Individual headteachers will decide whether or not to close their schools in consultation with their governors.

“The decision will be based on whether the school can safely look after pupils with reduced staff on strike days.

“Heads may also decide they only have enough staff to open part of their school, in which case we’ve asked for them to give priority to vulnerable children and the children of key workers as well as those taking exams this year. 

“We’ve asked schools to let us know what they’ve decided and we’ll be collating the information at: https://www.devon.gov.uk/schools/closure/ .