ONLY “substantially improved” pay offers will end teaching strikes across Scotland, education unions warned today as talks continued in a bid to end the long-running dispute.

The Scottish negotiating committee for teachers, which brings together SNP ministers and local authority leaders in umbrella group Cosla and trade unions, met again today.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) — the largest union for educators north of the border — welcomed further discussions but stressed a failure to better last autumn’s below-inflation 5 per cent rise for most workers would see walkouts continue.