City workers' fast-track to teaching attracts just 90 applicants

A flagship Government scheme to turn city workers into teachers in six months has attracted 90 applicants, it was revealed today.

The initiative, announced by the Prime Minister in a blaze of publicity in March, was an attempt
to entice high performers into the classroom.

But it proved controversial from the start, with teaching unions dismissing it as "ill thought out".

Applications for the pilot training scheme, which is being run by the Institute of Education (IoE) in London, closed last week.

The institute said it had sent out application forms to 150 people, whose details had been passed on by the Training and Development Agency
for Schools (TDA), and received 90 back. There are 40 places available on the course.

The TDA said there had been 1,200 preliminary inquiries into the scheme, and insisted the
application rate was "encouraging".

The Liberal Democrats said the number of applicants proved the scheme had been a "complete flop".

At the time of the announcement, then schools minister Jim Knight said: "There are thousands of highly talented individuals in this country who are considering their next move, who want to do something challenging, rewarding, that is highly respected and where good people have great prospects.

"My message to them is to see what they can offer teaching and what teaching can offer them."

Lib Dem education spokesman David Laws said: "This has proved to be another headline grabbing announcement that has turned out to be a complete flop.

"Ministers seem to be more concerned with being seen to be doing something than actually getting to grips with the shortage of teachers in key subjects."

Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "We desperately need more high qualified professionals in the classroom but the Government has undermined this scheme by not tackling the problems of excessive bureaucracy and poor behaviour.

"Until we reduce the absurd amounts of red tape and give teachers more powers to keep order we will not be able to encourage people to convert to teaching."

A TDA spokesman said: "The accelerated route to QTS (qualified teacher status) is designed to attract candidates of the highest calibre.

"Filtering 1,200 initial inquiries to 90 applicants ensures we have the candidates best able to manage the intensive nature of the course. The ratio of more than two eligible applicants per place for a demanding course of this kind is very encouraging."

IoE deputy director Professor Dylan Wiliam said the number of applicants was "much less important" than their quality.

"We are very pleased that a high proportion of those invited to apply have done so, and we are now evaluating individual students to see if they have the potential to reach the QTS standards in six months rather than the usual nine."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: "We always believed it was a forlorn hope that this was a route to getting people into the teaching profession.

"We still think that six months is far too short a period to train as a teacher and I think the take-up numbers proves that others think the same."

The scheme formed part of a new public service reform paper published by Gordon Brown, who said he thought it would make a "huge difference" to the teaching profession.

Ministers said they were particularly keen to attract people with experience in areas such as financial services into shortage subjects like maths and science.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said the first course was a "small-scale pilot".

"It is aimed only at the very best candidates, who have been selected for their aptitude for teaching, their experience and their subject knowledge."