The multi-academy trusts that raised their top salaries despite being challenged by the government over high pay can be revealed today.

In February 2018, the Education, Skills and Funding Agency (ESFA) wrote to 87 multi-academy trusts that paid their top earners £150,000 or more in the 2016-17 academic year, asking them to justify their pay levels.

Tes has now looked at the 61 published sets of accounts from the trusts that were targeted by the ESFA, to establish if any changes have been made.

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The accounts show that more than a third (38 per cent) of these trusts gave their top earners a pay rise in 2018-19, with an average salary increase of up to £17,482.

And three-quarters of the 61 MATs were still paying at least one member of staff more than £150,000 last year.

The table below shows all the trusts that increased their top salaries between 2017-18 and 2018-19.