EDUCATION unions welcomed a Labour pledge today to give new teachers in England a one-off payment but warned that the party must go a lot further to turn around the country’s austerity-hit schools. 

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson unveiled a £50 million plan for incentive payments of £2,400 to teachers who complete the “early career framework” training programme, which covers their first two years in the classroom.

The commitment following the government’s own figures showing that in 2020, nearly a fifth of newly qualified educators quit the profession, which has been dogged by plummeting take-home pay, mounting workloads and punitive inspections.