Protest at private head's 'absurd' state ban

The head of one of London's top private schools has been told he is not allowed to teach in the state sector.

Tristram Jones-Parry, head of the £15,204-a-year Westminster School, retires next summer and had planned to become a maths teacher at a state school.

But regulators have refused to register him because he has not gained his Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. Today Government advisers called on Education Secretary Charles Clarke to change the "totally absurd" rules.

Mr Jones-Parry, 57, said the General Teaching Council told him he could not teach without registering, "and I can't register because I don't have qualified teacher status".

He added: "I have to do a college course, despite the fact that I have been teaching for years." Mr Jones-Parry has taught maths at Westminster for 27 years and presided over some of the best exam results in the school's 444-year history.

Carol Adams, chief executive of the GTC, said: "We just don't have the power."