Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union said:

“This Government has had almost 14 years to resolve the teacher recruitment crisis. Instead, under their watch, fewer graduates are entering the profession and the numbers of new teachers quitting have grown to critical levels.
 
“Increasing recruitment into the profession must be a priority, but the Government is still failing to take the action needed to not only recruit but also to retain teachers in the job.
 
“Whatever the route into teaching, parents have a right to expect that their child’s teacher is highly qualified and has the requisite training and skills to do the job.
 
“The Government’s previous decision to remove the requirement for schools to employ teachers with Qualified Teacher Status - which remains a major stain on their record in office - continues to undermine the status and morale of the profession. We will be looking for clarity from the Government on how the proposals will contribute to fixing these problems.
 
“At a time of significant pressures on school budgets and when the workload of senior and middle leaders in schools is also stretched, we need to have greater clarity on how schools will be adequately funded and supported to deliver the robust and high quality training that will be required.
 
“After 14 years of Government neglect, schools deserve better than a sticking plaster policy which offers no remedy to the underlying causes of today’s teacher supply crisis.
 
“There is a mountain of evidence which concludes that the teacher recruitment and retention crisis is being driven by excessive workload, working hours and low pay which the Government has failed to fix.
 
“This announcement looks like another stab in the dark from a Government that appears increasingly out of touch with the realities facing the teaching profession.”