Response to article in The Times

Responding to an article in the Times this morning (2 May), the General Teaching Council for England (GTC), said:

'It is vitally important that teacher incompetence is dealt with effectively in the interests of pupils.  We are already working with the DCSF to investigate the reasons that so few cases of serious professional incompetence are referred to the GTC, so that we can strengthen the process where necessary.  There is a broader group of teachers who do not fall into the category of 'incompetent', but who may be struggling, and who could and should be helped to improve.  The GTC has not put a figure on the size of this group and the Times article’s reference to 24,000 incompetent teachers does not come from the GTC.  The Times article also refers to draft plans or proposals to move a certain number of teachers to new schools to help them improve. The GTC is keen to explore a range of ways in which better local support can be provided to help struggling teachers improve their performance and one possibility for discussion, after in school measures have been tried, would be for a teacher to have a fresh start elsewhere - by agreement - this is only an idea for discussion, and there is no draft proposal at this stage.'