Over the summer break, the Department for Education issued a statement declaring a “minor change” to academy funding agreements to allow the schools to hire people without qualified teacher status (QTS) as teachers.
Unions criticised the move and also the timing of the announcement – which was made just before the Olympic Games opening ceremony in late July.
Up until now only independent schools and new free schools could hire non-qualified people. The rule change does not affect state schools.
The NASUWT said that QTS was an assurance for parents while the National Union of Teachers (NUT) pointed to its 2011 ComRes poll in which 89 per cent of parents said they wanted a qualified teacher to teach their child.
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