Teachers should not be “forced” to work extra hours as part of the Covid recovery effort, the government’s catch-up tsar has said.

Speaking at an event held by the Chartered College of Teaching this afternoon, Sir Kevan Collins also said he would “never advocate” increasing teaching time without raising teachers’ pay.

The news comes after Sir Kevan said yesterday that teachers should not be asked to do “more for no more” if the decision is taken to extend the “educational experience”.

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“We need to think about the time we give children to learn,” he said today.

“And on the table...is the question of, do we extend the amount of time children have to learn?

“This isn’t about extending the school day by bolting something on, this is about creating new opportunities for a broader range of experiences -particularly the non-academic outcomes, the drama, the sport, the volunteering; all the things that create social interaction.”

He added: “By the way, I will never advocate increasing the amount of time teachers teach without increasing the amount of pay teachers receive.

“And I think that should be all about teachers choosing to make that decision - never being forced to.”