They come home to their Walthamstow terrace to the same cost-of-living worries and talk over the same sorts of classroom problems. Their schools share a similar pupil profile.

But this year Mustafa will take home pound;1,293 more than Jodie as his school is in inner London, which now has a separate salary scale.

Mustafa,35, who teaches art and design at Brampton Manor, East Ham, will get basic salary of pound;30,000. Jodie, 29, a humanities and citizenship teacher at Norlington school in Waltham Forest will be on a basic salary of pound;28,707.

The couple, who married last year, are bemused. Mustafa said: “It hasn’t created any tension between us because luckily Jodie earns more than me on management points. But it is unfair. It is a weird situation.” Jodie said:

“It’s madness. I think the whole innerouter London boundary is divisive.

We live in the same house, do the same job, but he gets paid a higher basic salary than me - because of a bit of geography.”

The couple say the inner allowance will be a strong draw for teachers.

Norlington deputy head Pip Bayley - already struggling to fill four vacancies at the school - fears it will only make recruitment problems worse. Ms Bayley said: “We’ll be lucky to get one applicant per post.”