Member

So, the requirement of QTS is an entirely necessary baseline. It is necessary to grow the supply of qualified teachers, who make the greatest contribution to raising standards of education. What is then a necessity is keeping teachers in the profession beyond early careers. The commission has a range of recommendations to achieve that. Teaching has been compared to a weakened workforce. We need to rectify that by creating conditions where teachers feel able to commit for longer periods to the profession that they enter in order to build on their experience and develop their skills. As a start, the Government are absolutely right to establish a requirement that teachers have QTS and that all pupils—in particular, the most deprived—are taught by qualified teachers. As I said, this is a social justice issue, is a professional issue and is necessary.