TEACHING unions called for action on low pay and high workplace stress today as staff and pupils were praised for achieving record A-level results.

Unions pointed out that teachers have been pushed to the limit over the last year, with schools and colleges left to pick up the pieces after ministers’ repeated failures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their calls came as hundreds of thousands of pupils received grades determined by teachers, rather than by exams, having been assessed only on what they have been able to learn during the crisis.