Further details were announced to the House of Commons yesterday by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, David Blunkett. He has asked the TTA to support the new measures with a range of high-profile promotional activities, which it is implementing immediately.

The 'welcome back' bonuses are aimed at former teachers who may be considering a return to the profession, such as the 4,800 former teachers registered with the TTA’s Keeping in Touch Programme. There are also 500 extra places on returners courses being offered which will provide teachers who have been out of the classroom for some time with a chance to refresh their knowledge and learn about new developments in education, such as changes in the national curriculum and literacy and numeracy strategies.

The new-style Graduate Teacher Programme has proved very popular since its introduction, and the extra 570 places will provide even more on-the-job training opportunities for eligible graduates to help meet demand.

Commenting on the incentives, Ralph Tabberer, Chief Executive of the TTA said:

'The TTA is committed to the recruitment of more high-quality teachers to the profession and this includes encouraging those who have left the profession to return to the classroom. The response to our 'Those who can, teach.' campaign has been tremendous with the number of inquiries received by the Teaching Information Line trebling over the past year. This is a reflection of the interest in the profession and while we are not complacent, it is important to note that applications to postgraduate teacher training for this autumn are currently showing a 19 per cent increase on the previous year.

Teacher training contributes to the longer-term supply of more, high-quality teachers to the classroom. Today’s measures provide a vital boost for the current recruitment efforts of schools and we welcome the extra funding for initiatives such as the Graduate Teacher Programme, returners’ courses and welcome back bonuses.'

Ralph Tabberer is available to answer questions on teacher recruitment and training in a live webcast today from 12 –1pm. Details and access via the TTA Website Teach

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. With the announcement, there are now over 1,000 places on returners’ courses with a bursary of up to £150 a week (up to 10 weeks). Money towards childcare costs will also be available.
2. Schools offering places on the Graduate Teacher Programme can receive up to £13,000 to cover salary and other costs and up to £4,000 in a training grant.
3. The TTA was established under the Education Act 1994. Its purpose is to raise standards in schools by attracting able and committed people into teaching and by improving the quality of teacher training.
4. The Teacher Training Agency is responsible for a wide range of initiatives to promote recruitment to the teaching profession; for funding initial teacher training, which is linked to the quality of the training provision and identified through OFSTED inspection; for further development of the standards for award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), including currently the new QTS Skills Tests for numeracy, literacy and ICT; and working with the New Opportunities Fund for the provision of training in the use of ICT in subject teaching.