Who do you see when you start work on Monday mornings - the usual faces recovering from the weekend, the boss demanding sales figures, or the most exciting people in the world?

In the next phase of the teacher training agency’s (TTA) “Use Your Head. Teach” campaign, which begins on Monday (13 September), television viewers get a teacher’s eye view of classes of real pupils in secondary schools. The new advertisements follow the recent “headless” campaign, which generated a 10 per cent increase in enquiries during the past year from graduates eligible to start teacher training.

The campaign was developed in response to research by the TTA which showed that:

• current teachers and head teachers believe working with children is their principle motivation for teaching; and
• three-quarters of recent graduates think working with children would be intellectually stimulating.

The television advertisements will be shown on channels four and five and some cable and satellite channels, supported by press advertisements and posters in a wide range of media.

Headlines such as “Who’s your first meeting with tomorrow?” and ‘Physicists. Discover new energy sources’ challenge audiences to compare their jobs with the unique benefits experienced by the 450,000 teachers currently working in England’s schools.

The campaign highlights new opportunities for graduates who want to teach mathematics, science and modern languages, and the financial support available during training. Enhancement courses can give graduates with some knowledge of maths or science a deeper understanding of the subject to enable them to teach confidently and accurately, while modern language graduates with one language can now develop a second, on a modern language extension course.

Mary Doherty, the TTA’s Director of Teacher Supply and Recruitment, said:

“The TTA’s campaigns over the past five years have helped increase the number of people entering teacher training by 50 per cent, and today’s new teachers are the best ever.

“With a teaching workforce approaching the size of the population of Liverpool, we need to ensure we attract more graduates, especially those interested in teaching maths, science and modern languages in secondary schools.

“Our new advertising features children – the most exciting people in the world – in their schools. It shows the fundamental truth about teaching: that working with children brings enjoyment and rewards, every day. The campaign also highlights the practical benefits of teaching, such as the pay and prospects teachers now enjoy.”

Notes for editors

“Use Your Head. Teach” was launched in September 2003. In that period there were more than 42,100 enquiries from eligible candidates interested in becoming a teacher – around 10 per cent more than during 2002-2003. The number of enquiries about mathematics rose by 31 per cent.

The new advertising themes have been developed following research among representatives groups of teachers, head teachers and potential teachers. Teachers were asked what they liked most about their job, and potential teachers what would attract them to join.

Research by PCP Data among 1,000 non-teacher graduates aged 21-35, commissioned for the TTA in July 2004, found that 77 per cent believed that working with children would be intellectually stimulating, 75 per cent were attracted to the idea of working with young people, and 81 per cent to the opportunity to develop young people’s minds.

Eligible trainees on postgraduate initial teacher training courses in England receive a tax free bursary worth £6000. Newly qualified teachers in English or drama, science, mathematics, modern languages, design and technology, and information and communications technology (ICT) may also be eligible for a “golden hello” worth £4,000. For science and mathematics, the Government has announced its intention to increase the bursary to £7,000 and the “golden hello” to £5,000 from 2005-06.

Pre-initial teacher training enhancement courses are of six months duration, full time and intensive. They are aimed at graduates suited to a career in teaching who have either occupational experience or some post A-level academic study of the course subject and would benefit from developing greater depth of understanding prior to training leading to qualified teacher status (QTS). Courses are designed for career changers who have expressed an interest in teaching but may lack the full subject knowledge required to teach secondary pupils or graduates with degrees in non-national curriculum subjects. Extension courses are specifically designed to help graduates with one language develop a second language up to key stage three (up to the level for pupils aged 14). Course participants will be paid a bursary of £150 per week for 26 weeks.

The salary scale for newly qualified teachers begins at £18,558 (£22,059 in inner London). The upper pay scale for good, experienced classroom teachers rises to £29,385 (£34,851 in inner London). Head teachers of large secondary schools in inner London can earn more than £90,000 per year.

Media enquiries

TTA Press Office Tel: 020 7023 8080 / 8081

Out of hours: 0777 193 4629

email: pressoffice@teach-tta.gov.uk

Teaching enquiries

People interested in becoming a teacher should visit Get into teaching link or contact the Teaching Information Line (tel: 0845 6000 991 – 992 for Welsh speakers).

General TTA enquiries: 0870 4960 123