Troops to teachers - University offers retraining for service leavers

British servicemen and women who are leaving or have left the forces within the last two years are being offered the chance to bring their unique skills into the classroom and train as teachers at The University of Nottingham. The University's School of Education will provide extra places from September 2012 as part of its established and highly successful Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP). The School has developed a course which is tailor-made for graduates who have served in the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force. The new Troops to Teachers course is part of a government scheme which pledged a package of support for ex-military personnel wanting to retrain as teachers when they leave the forces. It was prompted by a similar scheme in America which showed that ex-servicemen and women are proving to be excellent teachers, particularly in high-poverty areas and in high-demand subjects such as modern languages, mathematics and science. 'Best possible start' Course leader Lindsey Smethem , said: "We have experience every year of working with small numbers of service leavers and understand the particular issues they may encounter. It is an exciting opportunity for us to work with a cohort of servicemen and women as they embark on their new careers.