Teachers 'should face tough new tests to weed out incompetents'

Tough new tests to remove thousands of incompetent teachers from the classroom are being demanded by an influential think-tank. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warns in a report published today that poor secondary school teachers can make the difference between a pass and a fail in exams.

Research conducted by the left-of-centre think-tank shows that the difference between being taught by an excellent teacher and a bad one can be more than just one grade. For example, it could turn a potential C grade pass – recognised by ministers as the benchmark for success – into a D grade or worse.

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The report goes on to reveal that – while the teaching profession is still not attracting top performing graduates – only one in 100 of those who sign on for teacher training courses fail to qualify.

Figures show that UK schools recruit from the top 30 per cent of graduates while countries whose education systems are at the top of international league tables such as Finland and South Korea attract from the top 10 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

The report recommends introducing a new nationally set written test for all those on initial teacher training courses – testing their literacy, numeracy and cognitive skills. In addition, all applicants should face psychometric tests to assess their personality and whether they would be suitable for teaching.

Julia Margo, IPPR's associate director, said: "Teaching is rightly seen as a profession that people aspire to work in. But there are still a large number of ineffective teachers and they make the difference between children passing or failing."

The report also calls for the introduction of stiffer capability reviews for poor teachers with those who fail them being offered retraining. It says that a poor teacher can often be encouraged to leave one school and then turn up for a job at another without a stain on their record.

The report comes as members of the General Teaching Council are preparing a dossier for Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary, to strengthen procedures for weeding out incompetent teachers after claims that there were as many as 24,000 in the profession. Mr Balls signalled his desire to take action on the problem in the10-year Children's Development plan he published in December.

But Schools Minister Andrew Adonis said in response to the IPPR warning: "Ofsted reports that today's generation of teachers is the best trained ever and the big rise in well qualified applicants to teaching in recent years supports this." Under the Teach First scheme, 400 of the most highly qualified graduates would be offered jobs teaching in inner city schools, he added.

Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "I don't know what the IPPR is talking about. There is overwhelming consensus we have the best teachers ever.

"The idea of psychometric tests is a dead end which in many other walks of life has been highly dubious and very unreliable."