TAX-FREE bursaries of up to £20,000 are on offer to talented people who want a career in the classroom.

Ringwood School’s Teaching School Alliance is calling for applications for its latest teacher training programme.

The School Direct programme allows top graduates, or those already working, to combine teacher training with learning on the job.

For successful candidates it offers tax-free bursaries of up to £20,000 - or a salary - and they get to train alongside experienced teachers.

Deputy headteacher Clare Adams said: “It is a great way to learn and qualify to become a teacher, by offering candidates support from their future colleagues, who have a wealth of experience.

“They will also benefit from further learning opportunities to develop their teaching skills and progress quickly into leadership positions.”

Charlie Taylor, chief executive of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, said: “School Direct allows the most able graduates to work alongside some of the best teachers working in our classrooms today, and in schools that are right for them. By offering bursaries of up to £20,000 in key subjects, or a salary, together with outstanding training and development, schools can attract the very best talent.”

Graduates can apply for one of two options: a fee-based programme, paid for by the trainee through the Student Loans Scheme, which offers well-qualified graduates the opportunity to train in a school and receive a bursary (if eligible); or the salaried programme, which is an employment-based route available to graduates with three years’ work experience and ensures trainees are paid a salary while they train.

Candidates can now apply for the academic year 2014/15 in physics, chemistry, modern foreign languages, maths and computing.

Further information is available at www.education.gov.uk/schooldirect or by contacting Ali Fanos at ali.fanos@ringwood.hants.sch.uk