I would wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by The Historical Association in last week’s edition (“Half a day on humanities - ‘it’s not enough’,” September 25). If some primary PGCE courses spend just half a day on a vital curriculum area such as humanities, a decline in teaching standards is inevitable.

If pupils are to engage with and benefit from a wide and important subject such as this, their teachers need to be knowledgeable, confident and experienced.

At IAPS schools (Independent Association of Prep Schools), we pride ourselves on giving teachers the opportunity to be a specialist in their chosen subject. Our recent research showed that 70 per cent of prep schools have a teacher with a post A-level qualification in maths, 73 per cent have a teacher with one in a science subject and 69 per cent have a teacher with one in modern foreign languages.

We believe it is these high standards of specialist teaching that help to set our schools apart.

David Hanson, Chief executive, Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS).