Untrained staff are fine to teach in schools, says Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw Sir Michael, who used to be headteacher of a comprehensive in East London, told BBC1's Sunday Politics programme a headteacher's job was "to make sure they get accredited as soon as possible and come up to scratch in the class room." Asked if he supported the use of unqualified teachers, he said: "Yes I do. I have done it. If I could not get a maths teacher, or a physics teacher, or a modern languages teacher, and I thought someone straight out of university without qualified teacher status could communicate with youngsters I would get that person into the classroom and get them accredited if they deliver the goods. My argument Ofsted should play a much greater part in monitoring the performance of schools between those inspections schedules. Sir Michael was speaking ahead of figures this week which will show rising numbers of primary schools that are effectively designated as "failing." As many as 700 primaries in England - almost one in 20, collectively teaching around 180,000 pupils - are likely to fall below new benchmarks drawn up to "raise the bar" in the state education system. New league tables will show that the number of underperforming schools this year will exceed the 521 struggling primaries seen in 2012. It follows a decision to record reading and writing separately for the first time in headline results. Sir Michael is also expected to propose this week a new system fo "national service" for teachers and heads in top schools to go to the worst regions and help to lift standards. The model is based on a successful programme in Shanghai, China.