Schools could be breaking the law by asking support staff to teach lessons, the National Union of Teachers has claimed. Some schools are using classroom assistants to fill in when qualified teachers are absent, rather than using more costly supply teachers, the union says. Assistants are allowed to supervise classes only if they have the right level of qualifications. At any time when support staff deliver occasional lessons, they should always be under a teacher's overall direction, but the NUT says they should not actively teach and, if they do so routinely, then schools could be breaking the law.

"What the regulations say is you can only do specified work, which is teaching, if you're under the supervision of a qualified teacher. What you can't do is take over on your own, plan lessons, run classes etc," said John Bangs, head of education at the NUT.