We asked our new trainees why they decided to become teachers. This is what they told us…

Jessye – History

"I was working in a 9-to-5 office job and I just wasn’t feeling like I was getting anything out of the work I was doing, and teaching just seems like the kind of career that you can really get something out of every day and really feel like you’re making a difference to the world – engaging with kids and teaching them history!"

Courtney – Primary

"It’s probably quite cliché, but the teachers that I had, I think, especially in secondary school – I studied music at degree level mostly because of my secondary school music teachers."

Elliot – Primary

"I used to be an actor for ten years, then I went travelling and met my wife in Mexico and ended up moving to Mexico! I had to change careers and I ended up being a teacher there and just loved it – really enjoyed working with children, and just felt inspired to come back here and do it in England as well."

Stefan – PE

"I was quite – not naughty, but quite easily distracted when I was a child, and I had a PE teacher who I just absolutely loved - he made it really fun for me. He just made me really want to learn, and I just thought if I can be anything like that when I’m older, it’d be a privilege, so I just took the pathway and here I am!"

Grace – MFL

"Doing French, I started off as a translator, and then I just felt that I wanted to work with people and to inspire them to study languages, and I did some experience teaching abroad and I really enjoyed it, so I thought, yeah, I’ll come back and teach it!"

Sarah – Chemistry

"I always wanted to give back to the community, and I was like, what better way to give back to the community than teaching future generations and making sure they’re successful in the career they choose to take – from drama to science, I’m always there to support them whatever direction they choose to go."

Ibrahim – Business Studies

"I decided to become a teacher because when I was doing Business Studies myself at A-level, one of my teachers really, really knew how to teach. I felt that he really inspired me as I went to take the same course on at uni. I just thought I wanted to make the difference that he made to my life and implement it to other children’s lives as well."

Kelly – Geography

"I had a very special teacher at school who completely changed my life, who made me realise that I could do far more than I thought that I was able to; who pushed me, who encouraged me. I am now stood here because of him – because of that teacher and what he did for me."

Matthew – MFL

"I’ve had a few jobs in international companies, the latest of which was working for the International Tennis Federation, so I worked in their development department, and that was really good because that was basically helping, particularly young, players from developing nations trying to make it big in the professional game. So that was really good, but I was basically working in more of an administrative and logistics role, so I thought, you know, it’d be great to actually see the impact that I’m having on people instead."

Warren – PE

"I fell completely by accident into teaching. I was coaching football in America for a long time and when I returned home after my visa had expired, I just wanted to do something remotely the same. I started as a teaching assistant and fortunately for myself the school asked me if I’d be interested in training to teach. It was something that I hadn’t really thought of, but once I began, loved it, absolutely loved the job, loved being in school, loved working with young people – it’s really probably my dream job and I’m really enjoying it."

Sabia – PE

"I started my career in the admin side of schools and I decided that I wanted a career in teaching. I enjoy working with young people, I find that the rewards that you get from seeing them do well – it’s amazing, so I just decided that this was the career for me. Obviously I have a passion for sport and PE, so it was a decision that I made from there."

Tamara – Maths

"I’ve moved around a little bit in my career so far and I'd not quite got the job satisfaction I was looking for, and I’d already had teaching in the back of my mind, so I explored it a bit more, and I worked in a school as a learning support assistant, and I realised that I really enjoyed the environment, really enjoyed that kind of role, so I decided to apply and I’m really excited for it!"