A national shortage of maths and physics teachers is being solved by raiding the staff of banks and finance companies hit by the credit crunch.

Officials from the Training and Development Agency (TDA), the government organisation that recruits teachers, have staged two seminars in the past few weeks at luxury hotels in the City and at Canary Wharf, attracting dozens of financial sector workers onto teacher training courses.

The agency is persuading bankers and accountants with maths and physics degrees to consider teaching as a desirable career option, rather than as a last resort.

Such is the current shortage of teachers in these two disciplines that many pupils are currently being taught by staff who do not even have degrees in the subjects.

“These events have been introduced quickly to help those who have sadly lost their jobs in companies such as Lehman Brothers,” said a TDA spokesman.

At the first two seminars more than 200 City workers – around half of whom have maths or science qualifications – registered their interest in teaching, and 25 signed up to start a one-year teacher training course in maths or physics.

The success of the strategy has prompted the agency to plan more recruitment events in the City over the next few weeks.

Graham Dingley, an adviser for the TDA, who attended the Canary Wharf seminar, said he had been surprised at the response. “We’ve been struggling for years to attract these people because the City has been hiring graduates with maths and physics degrees on huge salaries. But now there’s hope that children could start to be taught by well-qualified teachers,” he said.

The number of people inquiring about becoming a teacher has risen 33% since the start of the credit crunch.

Geoff Haynes, a former financial director for two subsidiary companies of Barclays Stockbrokers, started work last year as a maths teacher at Peterborough’s new city academy.

Haynes, 41, had to top up his accountancy qualifications with a one-year postgraduate certificate of education before he could start teaching at a state school. His salary went down by 60% and the family had to make economies at home – but he insists that his new job is far more rewarding. “It is very inspiring to be able to influence the next generation,” he said.

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