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Aspiring teachers will have to be top of the class in the next few years to be accepted for a graduate job in teaching. The number of students studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) is up by close to 40 per cent this year to almost 40,000 students.

Received wisdom is that most of the 10,000 extra applications for PGCE courses this year has been caused by people from other career backgrounds attempting to find what is perceived to be a secure career in teaching.

Luke Graham, from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), said: “Many applications are saying that they have done a job for five or 10 years but they are not making a difference and would like to try something new.”

The TDA was pleased that the number of people training to teach science (up by 40 per cent) and maths (up by over 30 per cent) had increased as both of those subjects have teacher shortages. Both subjects are also seen as very important skills for students to have as we emerge from the economic downturn.

The news makes it likely that competition for a graduate job in teaching, or indeed some other jobs in education such as teaching assistants will be stiff.

All the more reason to try to find a graduate job in teaching early and making yourself stand out from the crowd. We often list graduate vacancies in education in our graduate job section. Head over to the graduate job page now to start your search.