Over the past decade about one in ten students graduating from universities in the United Kingdom has aspired to become a secondary or primary school teacher. Teaching has been one of the top five career options for the past eight years. This year it is the third most popular choice after jobs in investment banking and the media.

Teaching has not always been so sought after, however. Over the years it has fallen in and out of favour, often depending on the buoyancy or otherwise of the general graduate job market. One sign of its current ascendancy is that many final-year students appear to rate teaching in a challenging secondary school as a more attractive first-step career option than joining Goldman Sachs.

Teach First, an independent charity that encourages top graduates to become inspirational teachers in some of England’s most challenging schools, has just been ranked

ninth in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers for which most graduates want to work. This is one position higher than Goldman Sachs and a huge rise since entering the rankings at 63 in 2003.

“Graduates are now saying that teaching in a challenging secondary school is one of the most prestigious things I can do,” says James Darley, director of graduate recruitment at Teach First.

The charity was set up in 2001 to address the issue of how to raise the educational achievements of disadvantaged children from poor backgrounds. The idea was to put the cream of the country’s graduates in the most challenging secondary schools, using them to inspire children and to lift their expectations.

Students with 2:1 degrees, who had at least three B grades at A level and who met a stiff set of skill requirements would got through a six-week training programme before being parachuted into the classroom with the support of university teacher-trainer tutors and professional and subject mentors within the schools.

The scheme is designed to attract graduates into the schools for two years before they move on to become high-flyers in other walks of life or choose to make a career of teaching.

The short-term aim is to raise achievement in the schools as quickly and effectively as possible. The long-term goal, however, is to encourage change for the better within the education system by producing ambassadors for education who will champion its cause from whatever position in industry or society they achieve.

Participants in the Teach First initiative — about 1,500 graduates are taking part in or have been through the scheme — also take part in a parallel leadership development programme. This involves business internships, being coached by industry leaders, visiting careers fairs and attending educational conferences.

The skills acquired by the graduates help them to decide whether they want to continue teaching, go into industry or business or make a difference to society in another way.

“If you are not sure what you want to do with your life then Teach First is an ideal programme,” Darley says. “The skills you learn by teaching for two years in a challenging school are going to help you in whatever you decide to do.”

Fast track to the schoolroom

Lesley Airey, a 24-year-old Cambridge graduate, knew she wanted a job that would make a difference to people’s lives, writes Simon Midgley. She had not thought about teaching but was attracted to the idea after hearing about Teach First.

Airey, who graduated in natural sciences, says: “Teach First offered the chance to go straight into a career. After training for six weeks over the summer, I started school that September.”

She joined Uxbridge High School, a mixed-sex comprehensive in northwest London, as a science teacher. “You were given a lot of responsibility straight away. It was a very steep learning curve.

The big challenge was behaviour management: the children challenge you a lot in the classroom. For me it was all about building up the children’s trust.”

Airey is now starting her third year, having been promoted to an assistant curriculum leader.

“I have enjoyed my job incredibly. You gain a massive reward from having a direct effect on children’s lives.”

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