Highly accomplished teachers would be paid more under the Education Revolution, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has promised.

Ms Gillard said higher pay had already started under the reforms, which would see some teachers paid more than their longer-serving colleagues.

“The best teachers are being paid more to go to the schools that need them the most, a groundbreaking reform already delivered through the Education Revolution,” she said, using the example of Shaun Isbister, who is teaching in Mill Park Secondary College in Victoria under the Teach for Australia scheme.

Ms Gillard said she would like to see external assessment of schoolteachers to grade the quality of learning, believing “you’ve got to have the doors open”.

“I’m very open to a community debate about how that can best be done”, she said, answering questions at the National Press Club last week.

Ms Gillard said standards for graduate teachers were also being drafted, which will define the way teachers are hired, developed and promoted.

Other reforms under the Education Revolution include the Myschool website, launched in January, and the Australian national curriculum.