Schools in Oxfordshire will have to foot the bill for bumper pay rises awarded to newly qualified teachers.

The Government has given a pay rise of about six per cent to teachers who are in the first year of the job.

Other teachers were awarded a 3.7 per cent increase.

Oxfordshire County Council had warned school budgets would suffer because of the 3.7 per cent rise, as it had only allowed for three per cent from its central coffers.

But now the authority has said it will fund the pay rise for experienced teachers, leaving schools to find the extra 2.3 per cent for newly qualified teachers who are in their first year.

It will leave £1,024,000 left over in the county council's education budget after teachers have been paid.

Of this, £300,000 will go to schools with sixth forms to help pay for the extra cost of exam fees that they now have to pay under the new A-level system in which pupils take four subjects instead of three.

The youth service is to receive an extra £70,000, which the education committee will decide how to spend.

An extra £71,000 will go to recruiting and retaining more teachers.