The chief area that concerns me about academies is that they do not have a legal obligation to employ teachers with QTS as state schools do. While I appreciate that some subjects such as music, art perhaps can be taught very well by musicians and artists who would hopefully inspire with their love of their art and would not necessarily need to be qualified teachers, this does not apply with most subjects. The education budget, although ring fenced in theory, is not taking account of rising pupil numbers so surely the budget per pupil is going to be reduced. Thus, we will see headteachers facing a reduced budget and employing cheaper unqualified teachers, or newly qualified teachers, making experienced senior subject staff too expensive, and luxuries such as music tuition available only to those able to pay.
