Teacher Training: It's not just a vocation - it's lucrative

Excellent bursaries mean that gaining skills in shortage subjects can be a smart move. Caitlin Davies finds out where the money is

But at the end of the first month of her postgraduate certificate of education course (PGCE), when she received her first payment, it finally sank in. "My husband has a good full-time job so I wasn't scrimping and saving on my own," says the 30-year-old, "but it was still essential. It helped me pay off previous loans and contribute to the mortgage."

Wyman has just started as a newly qualified teacher at Haydon School in Hillingdon, London. Six years ago, she graduated with a psychology degree. She originally wanted a career in criminal psychology, but her work experience decided her against this, and she found herself a bit lost about what to do next. Teaching had always been in the back of her mind, but despite her strong maths background she knew that most training providers want teachers with a relevant degree.

At the TTA open day, however, Wyman was put in touch with St Mary's College in Twickenham, which doesn't require a maths degree. It was then that she first heard about the bursaries on offer.

While Wyman's NQT year doesn't officially start until September, she started work in July and has been paid over the summer.

As from next September, trainee teachers in maths, science and other shortage subjects will see their bursaries increase to £9,000. Shortage subjects have until now been defined as English (including drama), ICT, design and technology, and modern languages. This list has now been extended to include music and RE. Secondary non-shortage subjects and primary trainees will continue to get a £6,000 bursary. The increase only applies to those on PGCE courses in England.

The increase in cash help comes at a time when teaching was voted the top career choice among 16,113 final-year university students polled by the UK Graduate Careers Survey. But if teaching is already so popular - 41,000 trainee teachers were recruited by the TTA this year, the highest for 30 years - why the need for further financial incentives?

The answer is partly to keep teaching competitive, and to keep on tempting graduates to meet forthcoming recruitment needs. But it is also a response to the variable fees that will soon be charged on teacher training courses.

At the moment, PGCE courses are funded by the TTA, which pays providers to cover fees. But, from next September, providers can charge up to £3,000. The Department for Education and Skills pays £1,200 of this, non-means tested, but the PGCE trainees will have to find the rest themselves.

And it's not all good financial news for trainees: for some, the golden hellos (a taxable lump sum designed to attract graduates to teaching) will actually drop next year. Those in English, modern languages, design and technology, and ICT have been receiving £4,000; this will now be cut to £2,500 - although for maths teachers it will be increasing to a handsome £5,000. When it reviewed the financial incentives, the TTA argued that it should allocate funds where they were needed most.

The golden hello is usually paid in two parts, half at the start of the second year in teaching and half at the start of the third year. While technically you could jump ship after this, the TTA says this doesn't usually happen.

While the Secondary Heads Association has welcomed the new bursaries, others say they don't address the real problems of recruitment and retention. To keep teachers in their jobs, the unions argue, they need better salaries and improved work conditions, especially with regard to pupil behaviour.

However, such is the lure of the new cash packages that, according to one tutor, trainee teachers accepted on PGCE courses have deferred placement until next year to take advantage of them. But for Wyman, the money alone wouldn't be enough to keep her in her new career. "I love my job," she says. "I have finally found my niche."

People interested in becoming a teacher can visit www.teach.gov.uk, or contact the TTA's Teaching Information Line on 0845 600 0991