She said she worked early mornings, evenings, weekends and during school holidays when she taught – far more than the hours she was paid for.
“The demand during this time has been enormous, so realistically speaking, you have not done your job during this time,” she said.
“If I had come in at 8:30 a.m. (and) left at 3:30 p.m., there would have been so many questions about my commitment to the job.”
Inflation in the UK for the year to May was 2.8%. This was lower than experts had predicted given the impact of the war in the Middle East on prices, but they are expected to rise further.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said the proposal itself was “another step in the right direction until we see a big spike in inflation” but partial funding “would mean more pressure on already stretched (school) budgets.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the salary payment but said many schools would find it “difficult” to come up with the money. Matt Rack, general secretary of the NASUWT, said teachers “will not have to pay their own fees through education cuts”.
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, called the new rules for trusts “the latest example of micromanagement from Whitehall”.
“It appears the government has rushed through these changes without consulting school trusts to understand the impact,” she said.
The DfE also said it would provide colleges with an extra £485 million over two years.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, called it a “very positive announcement” but noted that “college wages still lag far behind schools and industry.”
Each year, the independent school teacher review body receives pay material from the government, trade unions and other organizations. It then makes recommendations to ministers, who ultimately decide how much to award.
Last autumn the DfE proposed a 6.5% wage payment for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29.
In March, the DfE said that nationally existing school budgets would set aside around £250 million to fund part of the rise in 2026-27 and around £750 million in 2027-28, making the first year of teaching “significantly more challenging financially” for schools.
Commenting on the new wage proposal, Luke Sibieta, a research fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said “schools will have to make savings to cover expected increases in costs over the next two years.”
He said that in 2027-28 he expects salary levels for most teachers to be about 7% lower in real terms than in 2010-11, but starting salaries will be about 2% higher.
Sibieta said that “at the latest low point” in 2022-23, most teachers’ pay levels were about 12% lower than in 2010-2011.
In May, the NEU said 6.5% over three years was unlikely to keep up with inflation and called the proposal an “insult”.
An informal indicative vote taken already this year, with a turnout of 48.6%, showed that 90.5% of teachers who are members of the NEU were ready to strike.
NEU members went on strike over pay in the first half of 2023, forcing many schools to close for eight days.
The NEU called off further action after the government revised its 2023 proposal to 6.5%.
Teachers then received a 5.5% raise in 2024 and a 4% raise in 2025.
Meanwhile, the DfE has justified spending more than £700,000 on “influencer marketing” over the past two financial years.
In an interview with Tes magazine, Laura Trott, the Conservative shadow education secretary, said the spending showed Phillipson’s priorities were “completely wrong”.
But the DfE said it “allows us to reach audiences where they are” and that it is “much more cost-effective” than traditional marketing.
Additional reporting by Marta de Ferrer and Emily Holt