Following warnings from Essex's director of education, Paul Lincoln, that teacher shortages could lead to a shorter working week for some pupils, John Wells, headmaster of Headlands secondary school in Swindon, has said he is considering cutting teaching time due to a lack of staff.

The general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, David Hart, warned that: "We are touching meltdown in terms of the recruitment crisis in various parts of the country."

Figures from the Graduate Teacher Training Registry indicate a 16 per cent drop in post-graduate teacher training applications compared with last January.