A UNION last night expressed dismay at how bureaucratic bungling and red tape could be adding to the nation's teacher recruitment crisis.

With her mature attitude and a passion for learning, Sara Harry would appear the perfect candidate to help stem the crisis in teacher shortages.

But her ambition to become a teacher has almost been cut short after a number of frustrating blunders by the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR).

Schools are facing a desperate struggle to fill empty posts and find supply cover for short and long term staff absences.

And yet Sara found she had to battle to get onto a teacher training course, albeit after the official closing date.

The 30-year-old, from Rushyford, County Durham, sent her application form about seven weeks ago to the GTTR with a reference and a choice of London primary school courses.

She expected them to send the application out to institutions on her behalf, as is usual.

But when she contacted the agency to change one of her course options, she discovered the GTTR had no record of her application - despite acknowledging its receipt.

"If I hadn't wanted to change my options I would never have found out I was not on their system," said Sara, who has a degree in environmental science and postgraduate diploma in information technology.

Several more problems delayed the process until she was told all the courses were full.

Fortunately she had sent photocopied forms to her choices herself and has since gained two interviews.

A GTTR spokeswoman said they could not comment on individual cases, but said the official closing date for applications was December 15 last year.

"Applications received after will be processed but only sent to institutions if places are still available," she added.

Hans Ruyssenaars, regional officer of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers said: "If things are going wrong in this way so consistently with one case, you wonder how many other people out there are trying to enter the profession but are being barred from doing so because of bureaucratic red tape."