Teach First | Schools Week

Record year for Teach First as two thirds of applicants pass screening

The education charity Teach First has recruited a record cohort of trainee teachers after almost two in three passed its screening process. This summer, 1,735 trainees will join the scheme, which places high-flying graduates who might not have considered teaching in schools serving disadvantaged communities. If the next prime minister wants the country to thrive, […]

Teach Firsters return to the classroom ten years on

Teachers who trained with education charity Teach First when it launched 15 years ago are returning to the profession, after leaving it behind to try out different industries. Data gathered by Teach First on trainees who joined the programme in 2003 and 2004 have shown that more of them were back in the classroom last […]

Set up ‘Teach First-style’ scheme for school mental health specialists, says report

A scheme modelled on Teach First should be set up in schools to train mental health specialists to work with young people, research has suggested. The training would involve learning how to manage problems that children face at school such as “bullying, exam stress and low moods”. Proposed in a new joint report from school […]

Teach First increases trainee numbers more in south than north

Teach First has made progress placing trainees in the north of England but is still struggling in some areas, reflecting the recruitment difficulties faced by schools there. Figures seen exclusively by Schools Week show 630 trainees have been posted in northern areas and the Midlands this year, while 741 are stationed in the south including […]

One in three reception children aren’t ‘school ready’, warns Teach First

Nearly one in three children who start primary school in England at the age of five are not “school ready”, according to new analysis by Teach First. The education charity looked at the number of new reception pupils who fail to meet the level of social and emotional development, knowledge and skills needed to provide the foundation for good progress through […]

Revealed: The 2018 Teach First Innovation Award winners

The annual Teach First Innovation Awards exist to give a leg up to start-ups that want to tackle inequality in education. Now in their fifth year, the awards have supported around 20 projects in spheres as varied as technology, mental health and farming. Winners receive a full-time salary for six months – worth £15,000 – […]

Teach First’s LGBT intake almost doubles

The percentage of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people signing up to train with the education charity Teach First has almost doubled in the last three years. The proportion of new teachers training with the charity who identify as LGBT has increased from five per cent of those who started in classrooms in 2014 to nine per […]

From courtroom to classroom…

Early last year, Joanne Crossley hung up her wig and joined Teach First at 46. It was a shock to the system, but not a bad one It was a dog that finally pushed me over the edge. A family that cares more about its pets than its kids doesn’t deserve my help – no […]

Government should write off teachers’ student loans

We need bold new ideas to complement pay rises and beat the retention crisis, claims Russell Hobby There is a truth at the heart of education success that is too often lost in the controversies that attract the headlines. We control the factor with the most impact on children’s education: the quality of teaching they […]