The Government must fully fund the pay rise for teachers in England to prevent cuts to pupil support, activities and staffing, unions have urged.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has been warned that investment in improving school staff’s pay and conditions is “vital” to tackling the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.

In May, the Government accepted the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) to boost the salaries of teachers and school leaders in England by 4% from September.

Ms Phillipson said schools would receive an additional £615 million of funding this financial year to help cover most of the costs of increased pay awards.

But she said schools would have to find around 1% of the pay awards themselves “through improved productivity and smarter spending”.