British servicemen and women who are leaving or have left the Forces within the last two years are being offered the chance to bring their unique skills into the classroom.

The School of Education will provide extra places from September as part of its highly successful Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP). The School has developed Troops for Teachers, which is tailor-made for graduates who have served in the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force.

Troops to Teachers is part of a government scheme which pledged a package of support for ex-military personnel wanting to retrain. It was prompted by a scheme in America which found ex-servicemen and women to be excellent teachers, particularly in poverty-stricken areas and in subjects such as modern languages, mathematics and science.

Course leader Dr Lindsey Smethem said: “We have experience every year of working with small numbers of service-leavers and understand the particular issues they may encounter. It is an exciting opportunity for us to work with a cohort of servicemen and women as they embark on their new careers. Our programme, rated outstanding by Ofsted, is well placed to support them to make the best possible start in teaching“

Neil Lamont, 44, a former RAF Wing Commander, is a GTP student at Nottingham. He said: “The GTP sounded exactly the right approach to suit me. I already had experience of teaching, my military career has given me a huge amount of experience of standing in front of people and public speaking, therefore the GTP gave me the route to go straight into a school and start learning the art of teaching to children straight away. It really appealed to me”.

There are seven salary-funded places available from the end of August in the areas of chemistry, modern languages, maths and physics. The GTP is an employment-based route to achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and is a one-year postgraduate qualification. Successful candidates will be employed by a school in a supernumary capacity on Grade 1 of the unqualified teacher scale, currently a salary of £15,781. Tuition fees payable by the trainees are £3,790; the government also contributes £5,210 towards the tuition fee.

Candidates are based in a secondary school and get one training day a week at the University, including expert subject-specific and generic training, networking and collaboration with 36 other GTP trainees, tailored pastoral support to address issues involved in making the transition to teaching, a university tutor and the chance to gain a PGCE and progress to a Masters degree as a qualified teacher.

A study of the US Troops to Teachers (T3) programme found over 90% of head teachers said T3 teachers were more effective in the classroom and had a more positive impact on student achievement than traditionally prepared teachers. It also found that despite the drop in pay, retention was high: 88% of those T3 who qualified in 2002 were still teaching three years later.

The study also found that most T3 teachers were male (82%) compared to traditionally trained teachers (18%), and that nearly two-thirds (62%) of Troops teachers held a Masters degree or higher; 37% of had a bachelor’s degree as their highest qualification.

More information at: www/education/prospective/teachertraining/troops-to-teachers-.aspx.