Education Secretary Michael Gove’s plans to force teachers to work longer hours for fewer pounds were dashed yesterday by an independent review.

Mr Gove proposed a devastating deregulation of pay and conditions to the annual School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) for England and Wales.

But his insistence that teachers were protected by over-prescriptive terms was rejected by chairwoman Dame Patricia Hodgson, who backed evidence from unions that showed frontline teachers are already overstretched.