In a statement, the co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors’ committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, described the offer as “a start” which “changes the current trajectory of pay”.

“It should never have taken so long to get here, but this offer shows what can be achieved when both parties enter negotiations in a constructive spirit,” they said.

The offer must now go to a full vote of the BMA’s 50,000 junior doctor members in England who will decide whether to accept or reject the deal.

If accepted, it would bring to an end a series of 11 separate periods of industrial action since March 2023.

The latest five-day strike – which took place just days before the general election – led to the postponement of 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations, according to NHS England.

NHS Providers, which represents large hospitals and other trusts, welcomed the announcement but said the government must not pass on the cost of above-inflation pay awards to other frontline services.

It said its members would be “deeply concerned” about any further delay to the new hospital building programme, with “too many NHS buildings and facilities falling to bits”.

Junior doctors in Wales recently voted in favour of an improved pay deal while, in Northern Ireland, talks are ongoing and no strike action is currently planned.

Junior doctors have not taken industrial action in Scotland after they accepted a pay offer from the devolved government last year.