Thousands of children across Sussex will miss school tomorrow as schools are hit by strike action.

It will be the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade as workers from seven trade unions, including teachers, university lecturers, bus drivers and security guards walk out.

Teachers

Teachers will strike across the country as members of the National Education Union (NEU) stage their first day of strike action.

The NEU has announced seven days of strikes in England and Wales in February and March, and the walkout tomorrow is expected to affect 23,000 schools.

Teacher members of the union in sixth form colleges in England, who have already been balloted and taken strike action in recent months, will also take action on these days in a separate but linked dispute.

Members in Brighton and Sussex will also go on strike on March 2, as well as for two days on March 15 and 16.

Many schools across the county will be closed.

Cardinal Newman in Hove will be closed to all students including sixth form pupils.

Others which will shut include Brighton's Patcham High School, Dorothy Stringer School and Varndean School. The latter will remain open for exams.

University staff

University staff will also strike as part of action called by the University and College Union (UCU).

Tomorrow marks the beginning of 18 days of strike action by University staff and Sussex is one of 150 universities where its members have voted in favour of the industrial action.

UCU members at the University of Brighton are also striking.

The universities will stage a picket on campus and then join a march and rally with teachers, civil servants and train drivers.

Train drivers

Train drivers from RMT and Aslef will strike tomorrow as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

This will be their first day of strike action this week with another planned on Friday, February 3.

Train driver members of the RMT union at 14 train operators will walk out, including Govia Thameslink Railway which is the operator in charge of Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services.

The drivers’ union Aslef said thousands of its members will strike on the same days.

Around 100,000 civil servants will strike in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

Border Force staff

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said its members in 124 government departments and other bodies will walk out.

The union said it will be the largest civil service strike for years and signals a “significant escalation” of industrial action after a month of strikes by its members, including Border Force staff.

The Trades Union Congress

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) will hold a national “protect the right to strike” day tomorrow.

Protests will be held across the country against the government’s controversial plans for a new law on minimum service levels during strikes.

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill would require minimum levels of service from ambulance staff, firefighters and railway workers during industrial action.

Unions have dubbed it the “anti-strike bill”, saying it could lead to workers who vote legally to strike being sacked.

Other unions

Unite and the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) will also carry out strike action.

It is thought that around half a million workers will join the walkouts before nurses and ambulance workers again walk out next week.