Do the new 'free schools' set up under the Tories' flagship policy need to have qualified teachers – or not?

Andrew Snowdon is close to achieving his ambition to set up a state-funded Montessori school in his home town of Crawley, West Sussex. Having reached the final stages of the application process for one of the government's new "free schools", he could be welcoming his first students as early as next September.

The Discovery New School already has its own website and has attracted a lot of interest from parents. But while parents will undoubtedly be drawn by the promised class sizes of 16, they might not be so impressed to learn that the school may not have to employ qualified teachers.

Discovery is one of the first 16 schools to gain government backing to become free schools – state-funded institutions outside local authority control that can be set up by parents, teachers and others. This flagship policy of the Conservative party aims to encourage innovation by freeing up schools from state interference. But having undergone the lengthy application process, which does not require any details about teachers' qualification levels, Snowdon believes he is not obliged to employ qualified teachers.

In keeping with the free schools' "spirit of innovation", he says he plans to employ teachers with a "mix of skills". That might include those with QTS (the nationally recognised qualification for teachers) or Montessori training and, possibly, unqualified teachers or instructors. His wife, Lindsey, a qualified Montessori teacher, will teach at the school and Snowdon, the director of a software development company, will take the role of school business manager.

Montessori education places a greater emphasis on personal development and hands-on learning, so it would be "bizarre" if he rated QTS more highly than specialised Montessori training or other skills and experience, says Snowdon. "We're not going to be dogmatic about having qualified staff, because what is important is the quality of the teachers."

Under current regulations, all teachers working in state schools, including academies, must have QTS status, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when a school can't fill a post, the teacher is training "on the job" or, for a fixed period of time, teachers from overseas.

If Snowdon is right, and free schools are going to be allowed to recruit unqualified teachers, Alasdair Smith, of the Anti Academies Alliance, thinks the government could be on dodgy ground. "I think these ministers have got the idea from their old private schools, where anyone can teach, without a formal qualification, but state-funded schools are different. The idea that free schools might not use qualified teachers would be very worrying for most parents because QTS is evidence that the teacher understands how to provide quality teaching and learning."

The Department for Education has not denied or confirmed the claim. It said: "The department is developing new policies to improve the quality of schools and the quality of teaching. We are working with free-schools groups to develop the best approach to balance innovation with quality." A DfE press officer added that no decision had been made, and that "policies around free schools are still in development". She could not confirm when the DfE would clarify the rules on the qualifications required to teach in a free school.

It is one of many mixed messages from the education secretary, Michael Gove, and his department on the future of teaching. The schools minister, Nick Gibb, upset teachers in his first few days of office when he said he'd rather see an Oxbridge graduate with no PGCE teaching physics than a qualified teacher with a degree from a "rubbish university".

The announcement that the Training and Development Agency, which looks after the training and professional development of teachers, would be losing £30m from its budget followed shortly afterwards. Next came the news that the General Teaching Council, the quango set up under Labour to regulate teachers, was to be scrapped because, according to Gove, it had done "little to raise teaching standards or professionalism". Then Gove announced proposals to raise the bar for trainee teachers, saying the government should only pay to train those with a 2:2 degree or above.

If Snowdon's claim is correct, it would mean a "two-tier" system in which academies and state-run schools are forced to recruit only the highest calibre of graduate, while free schools can employ whoever they like.

It could represent another embarrassment for Gove, who was left with egg on his face after muddling up the lists of schools that had been approved for funding for rebuilding or refurbishment under the Building Schools for the Future Scheme back in July. There were more red faces at the DfE this month when, after hinting that 700 schools might sign up to be free schools, only 16 have won approval.

Another blow came during the Liberal Democrat conference last week when members voted overwhelmingly to boycott free schools because of their "social divisiveness and inequality". Critics have argued that because middle-class, educated parents or teachers are most likely to set up and send their children to free schools, their existence will create a layer of privilege within the state sector that will ultimately lead to inequality.

Snowdon says he has already received a number of applications from qualified and unqualified teachers, who say they would love to work at the Discovery New School. But Smith is sceptical. He believes qualified teachers will give free schools a wide berth – they will "not want to work at those Mickey Mouse outfits".

Christine Blower, general secretary at the National Union of Teachers, also thinks qualified teachers would be well advised to steer clear. "I understand the secretary of state … is relaxed about profit-making from schools. In Sweden, where they are running an independent-school state, profits are being made by reducing the number of qualified teachers. The NUT believes children deserve to be taught by qualified teachers. If the department decides free schools do not have to employ qualified teachers, it is a dereliction of their duties."

Toby Young, the writer and broadcaster who is setting up a free school in London, thinks it would be a shame to restrict free schools in this way. "We haven't broached this with the DfE yet, so don't know how much flexibility we'll have. For instance, will we be prevented from hiring an inspirational dance teacher who's taught at Sadler's Wells for 25 years because she doesn't have a PGCE? I hope not, but we'll abide by the rules whatever they are."