TEACHERS who excel in the classroom could earn up to £35,000 a year.

As part of the Government's pay review a "gold standard" for teachers to aspire to is being introduced and those that achieve the grade could see their pay rise by £2,372.

The School Teachers' Review Body also wants more advanced skills teachers to stay in the classroom and spread good practice to other schools.

But by the end of the year management allowances, worth up to £10,836, will be scrapped and replaced by responsibility payments of up to £11,000.

Research had found that heads were paying management allowances for administrative duties or as an incentive to retain staff instead of for tasks which had an impact on pupil attainment.

RANDOM drug testing in schools could lead to pupils trying harder drugs, claims a new study. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says some pupils could switch from using cannabis to more dangerous drugs such as heroin because they are harder to detect. The Foundation is also concerned that more drug testing in the classroom could damage relations between pupils and teachers.