More than half of secondary school teachers in England are not qualified in their subjects

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More than half of secondary school teachers do not have degrees in the subjects they are taking, an official survey has revealed.

Up to 200,000 are forced to teach classes unrelated to their qualifications as schools battle to plug shortages of qualified specialists.

The figures raise fears that thousands of children are struggling to reach their potential because their teachers are not experts in their fields.

Only 43 per cent of secondary school staff have a degree in the subjects they are assigned to teach, according to the study commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

A further 19 per cent have teaching qualifications in their specialist subjects but did not study them at the high level needed for a dedicated degree.

And 38 per cent have no qualification better than an A-level in the subjects they are teaching.

The National Foundation for Educational Research surveyed more than 14,000 teachers in nearly 330 secondary schools in England.

A comparison with a similar survey in 2002 shows that the proportion of lessons taught by staff who were not qualified beyond A-level in their subjects has risen.

But there has been an overall 10 percentage point rise in the proportion of teachers with degrees in their specialist subjects.