A head teacher has said schools should follow in his prestigious college’s footsteps and allow pupils to rate their teachers.

Richard Cairns is calling on the Government to make it compulsory for students to play a part in assessing the performance of teachers.

The Brighton College headmaster told a conference yesterday that pupils should be given the chance to rate their teachers on the quality of their lessons to help deal with under-performance in the classroom.

Mr Cairns told the Headmasters and Headmistresses’ Conference of independent schools annual meeting that he has introduced what is thought to be the first system of its kind at his own school.

Under the rating scheme, pupils at Brighton College, based in Eastern Road in Brighton, are asked to fill in an online questionnaire about each of their teachers.

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It is thought to be the first time that students have been asked to help appraise their teachers in such a way.

The form includes 22 statements or questions including “my teacher sets clear expectations for my studies and the quality of my work” and “my teacher is passionate about his subject” with students asked to give a grade for each statement or question ranging from one, which is positive, to five, which is negative.

Pupils are also free to add their own comments.

The findings are then collected and used as part of a teacher’s appraisal.

A similar system has been also introduced at the London Academy of Excellence which is co-sponsored by Brighton College.

Mr Cairns said pupil appraisals were the only objective way of praising good teachers as well as being the basis for serious conversations with those that are not doing well He added: “It is used as the basis for discussions in appraisal meetings, either to praise good practice, or inform the setting of targets.

“All good heads know what the ‘word on the street’ is regarding good or bad teachers but we have no objective evidence except those that arise from lesson observations and exam results.

“We have put a lot of money into school inspection and we are very concerned about standards in schools but the key consumers – the pupils – are not consulted. That strikes me as crazy.”