High-achieving teachers lead education revolution

Brett Wigdortz, the 39-year-old founder and chief executive of Teach First, believes he is the leader of an educational revolution. In his new book, Success Against the Odds, he declares that lack of opportunity for young Britons from low-income backgrounds is "a modern day version of the ancient scourge of slavery or feudalism".

The answer, he argues, is to engage the best of British graduates, who previously regarded teaching as a desperate last resort, in a mission to raise standards and aspirations in disadvantaged schools. They commit to teach for two years in such schools, during which they acquire a postgraduate general certificate in education (PGCE), the standard teaching qualification in Britain. Thereafter, they may continue teaching, or they may not.

But if they move into business, politics, or elsewhere, they should continue to support poor children's education by, for example, joining governing bodies, mentoring promising pupils or supporting sponsorship schemes.

Teach First, now in its 10th year, recruits about 1,000 British graduates annually. One in eight of them are from Oxbridge, and nearly all have at least an upper second. The competition is stiff, and only one in seven applicants are accepted. The successful applicants are enrolled on a "leadership development programme" rather than a mundane training course.

After a four-week residential course, they plunge into classrooms, following 80 to 85 per cent of a full timetable, with tuition and mentoring throughout the year. They can also take a short leadership course at a business college and, during the summer holidays, intern with Teach First sponsors such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Deloitte.

So is the scheme for potential teachers, or for potential business high-fliers who want to burnish their CVs? Where exactly does the balance between altruism and ambition lie?