Tristram Hunt MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, responding to today’s Education Select Committee Report on underachievement in education by white working class children, said:

“The report is right to identify that the most important thing for raising standards is to ensure a highly motivated and highly skilled teacher in every classroom.

“David Cameron and Michael Gove have damaged teaching standards by allowing unqualified teachers into our classrooms on a permanent basis. There has been a 16% rise in unqualified teachers in our schools in the past year alone.

“Labour will put teaching standards first, ensuring that all teachers become properly qualified and continue to build their skills. This is how we narrow the attainment gap between deprived children and the rest, and raise school standards in every classroom across the country.”