Article courtesy of Recruiter Tuesday 22 January 2013 Reaction among education recruiters has been overwhelmingly negative to the news that the Department for Education will not continue its Quality Mark accreditation for supply teachers beyond 31 March. The contract for the scheme developed as a joint initiative by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and the Department for Education (DfE) in July 2002, sets minimum standards for agencies and local authorities to reach in areas such as the way they recruit and interview supply teachers, the way they check and manage their performance, and the way they stay at the forefront of changes in the teaching sector. The REC branded the decisions “a retrograde step”, with chief executive officer Kevin Green saying it will write to the DfE “to challenge this decision”, although noting we “also have to be realistic about the chances of ministers having a change of heart”.