Burnley among lowest in North West for people wanting to make a career change into teaching

Data from the Transition to Teach support programme, which is funded by the Department for Education and led by global education company, Cognition Education, shows that only two per cent of career changers in Burnley are looking to make a change.

This puts it at the lowest in the region with Bolton and Rochdale where the figure also stands at two per cent.

Mel Sproston, who is regional director for Cognition Education, said they were hoping to get more people to apply as there is still time to enrol for training which starts in September.

Mel said: "We need more people to come forward so that local schools can benefit from an influx of teachers who have gained unique skills and experience outside of the classroom."

The programme is designed to help local career changers, of all ages and across all sector, make the step into teaching.

To encourage others Burnley has its own success story in Cathie Lakeland who fulfilled her dream to become a teacher at the age of 46.

Life events and choosing a different career path meant she did not get the chance to go into teaching when she wanted to so the Transition to Teaching programme was perfect for mum of two Cathie.

Manchester tops the table for for people wanting to become teachers with 37% of inquiries, followed by Liverpool with 14%. In third place is Lancaster with 10% and Preston is fourth with seven per cent.

Speaking about the key reasons behind the level of inquiry rates in Burnley Mel said they varied greatly adding: "A minority may have unfortunately faced redundancy since Transition to Teach went live, whilst the majority recognise their skills and experience can benefit the classroom or believe teaching offers them increased job satisfaction and work-life balance.

"From teaching Maths through to Music, many also have a passion for a particular subject area that can’t be fulfilled through their current career."

Mel added that they had been inundated with inquiries and had a 'superb' response from career changers in Burnley, but they wanted to urge more people to come forward.

She added: “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.

“It’s not too late for career changers in Burnley to start their path into teaching this autumn.

"We will 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.”

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.

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