Teachers in England are to receive a 3.5% pay rise.

She said she works early mornings, evenings, weekends and during school holidays when she is teaching – over and above billable hours.

“The demand at that time was huge, and really, you didn’t finish your work at that time,” she said.

“If I leave at 8:30 in the morning (and) at 3:30 in the evening, there will be a lot of questioning about my commitment to the job.”

British inflation was 2.8 percent Annually until May. Given the impact of the war in the Middle East on prices, it was lower than experts had predicted, but is still expected to rise further.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, the union for school leaders, said the cut itself was “another step in the right direction as long as we don’t see a big rise in inflation”, but partial funding would “put more pressure on already stretched (school) budgets”.

Each year, the independent school teacher review body receives submissions about pay from governments, unions and others. Then he gives recommendations to the ministers, who finally decide how much they will be awarded.

The final DfE submission proposed a fee award of 6.5% in 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29.

The DFE said around £250m would be available nationally from existing school budgets to fund some increases in 2026-27 and around £750m in 2027-28 – making the first year “financially more challenging” for schools.

In May, NEU was 6.5% in three years It cannot keep pace with inflation. And he called the proposal “an insult”.

He said in the autumn he would hold a formal ballot on whether to take industrial action on wages if the government “does not take urgent action”.

An informal indicator poll of 48.6% of teachers who took part in the election this year indicated that 90.5% were ready to take industrial action.

NEU members went on strike for pay in the first half of 2023, forcing many schools to close for eight days.

After the government revised its 2023 provision to 6.5%, the NEU ruled out further action.

Teachers were given a 5.5% raise in 2024 and a 4% raise in 2025.

The DfE also said it was giving colleges an extra £485m over two years.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, called it “very positive news” but said “college fees are still a long way behind schools and industry”.

Additional reporting by Emily Holt