Around 400 members of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite has announced.

The union says SQA offered a below-inflation pay deal of 3 per cent for 2025, and that a wage increase for the workforce is now five months overdue.

Its members working at the body include administrators, managers, processors and researchers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The pay offer amounts to a real-terms pay cut and that is totally unacceptable.”

The SQA is to be replaced by a new body, Qualifications Scotland, on December 1.

Unite industrial officer Alison Maclean said workers have had “years of uncertainty” due to the changeover, leaving them feeling “completely undervalued and taken for granted.”

The union says it entered into negotiations on pay a year ago on request of SQA management, but claims that attempts made by both parties to reach a deal have been blocked by the Scottish government.

SQA and the Scottish government were contacted for comment.