Preston schools need more teachers who have worked in other careers

The Transition to Teach support programme funded by the Department for Education and led by global education company Cognition Education, is designed to help local career changers - of all ages and all sectors - make the step into teaching.

From the thousands of enquiries the programme has received in the north of England since launching, seven per cent of those received in the North West have come from Preston.

Although the figure isn’t high, it put’s the city fourth in the table, behind Lancaster at 10 per cent. Manchester tops the chart at 37 per cent,

Mel Sproston, regional director for Cognition Education, said:“We’ve been inundated with enquiries and had a superb response from career changers in Preston, but we’d urge more people to come forward.

“The quality of education in local schools can only be further enhanced by a greater influx of qualified teachers who can draw on the unique skills, experience and knowledge gained from working in other industries and job roles.”

The Transition to Teach programme offers support and guidance throughout. It follows a simple four-stage process, with help given to individuals during their application and to assess their eligibility, through to finding an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) provider and further support when qualified in the first year of teaching.

Mel Sproston, added: “It’s not too late for career changers in Preston to start their path into teaching this Autumn. We’ll help individuals with their application and eligibility so they can hopefully be in a position to start training through one of our ITT partners in September.”

Anyone thinking of making the switch into teaching can start their journey by enquiring online at www.transitiontoteach.co.uk.