Tristram Hunt MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, responding to today’s report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission said: 

“On David Cameron’s watch, the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has widened. This report gives a damning verdict of the Tory-led government’s failures in education. 

“Improving the quality of the teacher in the classroom is crucial for improving the learning outcomes for all children. But Cameron changed the rules to allow unqualified teachers into the classroom, leading to a 16% rise in the last year alone.

“Labour will end Cameron’s watering down of teaching standards. We will deliver a qualified teacher in every classroom and require all teachers to undertake training on an on-going basis as a condition to remaining in the classroom. We will raise standards, rejecting Cameron’s low expectations.”

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