People in teaching jobs in England and Wales will not be walking out of the classroom in June.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) had said it would conduct its latest round of industrial action, but it has now withdrawn the threat, stating it would give the government the option of opening talks to try to work out a solution to the stand-off.

Teachers are concerned about ministerial changes that have impacted on their pay, pensions and working conditions and at the NUT's annual conference voted for strike action to commence in the week beginning June 23rd.

Despite the withdrawal, the union, which is one of the two biggest in the country, pointed out that if no progress was made, it could still call for strike action on July 10th - the same day as industrial action is planned by other public sector unions.

The shift will come as welcome relief, however, as there had been warnings that some pupils would be sitting exams during the week in June and they may have been disrupted.

"Teacher morale is at a low ebb with many working in excess of 60 hours a week for uncertain pay and worsening pensions and conditions," said the NUT's general secretary, Christine Blower, who was pleased to highlight that politicians were open to attending talks with the union.

"David Laws was at the last meeting and Michael Gove will attend a future meeting," she explained.

Ms Blower added the NUT's decision to postpone the industrial action would give the government "several more weeks to demonstrate good faith in the talks".

The union is still set to hold a mass lobby of parliament on June 10th. The Stand Up for Education campaign will aim to allow teachers to put their side of the story across without the threat of strike action clouding the issue.

Is this a sign of progress? As somebody Darryl Mydat