A headteacher appointed to run a free school despite having little experience or teaching qualifications has left the job after less than a month.

Annaliese Briggs is leaving "to pursue other opportunities within primary education," according to a notice to parents on Pimlico Primary's website.

Ms Briggs used to work on education reform and the curriculum for the Civitas think tank and was controversially appointed as head of the central London school in March.

It is believed that at the time she had no formal teaching qualifications, but spent time working in primary schools in Wandsworth, south London, through a school-centred teacher training scheme before taking up the role.

One unnamed teacher told the Guardian that he was surprised that such an inexperienced candidate had been selected for the job, suggesting it had been too much to learn too quickly.

Pimlico Primary, which began admitting pupils for the first time last month, is sponsored by Future, a charity set up by Lord Nash - a minister in the Department for Education - and his wife Caroline.

Anti Academies Alliance National Secretary Alastair Smith said: "I feel sorry for Ms Briggs. She was trumped up by politicians and businessmen who think that education is a cheap trick.

"This is the fault of Mr Gove and Lord Nash. Deregulation is a complex thing and that's why local authorities need to have power - schools need monitoring. Instances like this will happen now and in the future."

Earlier in the week the academy system, under which teachers do not need official qualifications and schools are not under the control of local authorities, suffered a setback after a flagship secondary in Derby was threatened with closure.

The trust running al-Madinah free school was found to have "breached the conditions of its funding agreement by failing to ensure the safety of children at the school; delivering an unacceptably poor standard of education; discriminating in its policies and procedures towards female staff; and failing to discharge its duties and responsibilities in respect of the governing body."