SCOTLAND’S largest teaching union warned today that a national dispute now looks “inevitable,” after years of councils and the SNP Scottish government “stalling” workload talks.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) fired the shot across the bows after national and local governments missed a key deadline for proposals on how they will meet their commitment to cut teachers’ classroom time.

In 2021, the SNP manifesto promised to cut the time spent in class by 90 minutes a week to 21 hours, but, four years on, there are no plans to deliver it.

The EIS now says that “the patience of Scotland’s teachers on this issue has run out” and that a formal dispute could be declared.

General secretary Andrea Bradley said: “It is deeply concerning that despite public assurances, the Scottish government and [local authorities association] Cosla have failed to meet the deadline set for the beginning this week to finally, after four years of stalling, start meaningful progress on reducing class contact time.

“With Scotland’s teachers continuing to be burdened by unsustainable workload and to engage in numerous hours of unpaid time each week on planning, preparing and providing feedback on learning, this failure now makes a wholly avoidable dispute appear inevitable.”

A Cosla spokesperson said council leaders had discussed the matter last week, reiterating “their commitment to meaningful progress,” and added: “Work will be undertaken to scope the risks and mitigations required and the associated costs.

“The intention is the scoping work is completed and reported to leaders by summer 2025.”

The Scottish government was contacted for comment.