Teachers are expected to escape disciplinary action due to the abolition of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE), it was revealed on Friday.
Cases of staff facing allegations of incompetence and misconduct which were referred to the council after August last year will not have time to be heard before the council ends in March. An investigation by the Times Educational Supplement (TES) found only the most serious misconduct cases with the possibility of a teacher being struck off will be referred to the disciplinary body's replacement.
The Teaching Agency, which will assume the GTCE's responsibilities, has not been referred any cases from the council since August as they were not deemed "serious enough".
All hearing dates between now and then are understood to have been filled.
The teaching council has often been criticised for the relatively small number of teachers that have been struck off under its watch.
Explaining his decision at the time he said: "I believe this organisation does little to raise teaching standards or professionalism. Instead it simply acts as a further layer of bureaucracy while taking money away from teachers."
Last month it emerged 228 teachers had been banned from the classroom by the GTCE since 2001, with 211 of those being prohibited from teaching for misconduct.
The remaining 17 were struck off for incompetence, according to the figures released by Schools Minister Nick Gibb.
Once struck off, failed teachers are banned from applying for another job in education.
GTC registrar Paul Heathcote said: "Given the time frames involved in investigating, collecting evidence and scheduling hearings, it was clear that the GTCE would be unlikely to complete hearings where cases were received after the end of August this year.
"Therefore since that point all new referrals have been or are in the course of being assessed as to whether they would lead to a hearing under the new system. Only those that would do so are will be transferred to the Teaching Agency."
Heathcote added the transition plans aimed to make the "best use of resources and minimise delays" by not taking forward cases GTCE panels would not be able to hear.
"We hope this approach will avoid unnecessary stress on teachers and others such as witnesses, by being able to inform promptly those involved in cases where no further action is to be taken," he said.
A Department for Education spokesman said no teacher whose standards fell below an acceptable level would go unpunished.
"All the most serious cases of misconduct that could lead to teachers being barred will be transferred to the new Teaching Agency if the GTCE does not have time to conclude them. All other cases will be dealt with by heads themselves where appropriate.
"The existing system does not work - it constantly gets bogged down in the bureaucracy of minor cases instead of dealing quickly with the most serious referrals," he continued. "The new system will ensure that serious cases are dealt with much more quickly by giving heads greater freedom to deal with incompetent teachers themselves - and thoroughly vet new staff before they are taken on.
"We're bringing in clear, new performance management standards for all teachers and there will be a new list of teachers barred from the profession available to employers and the public."