Some of the university students who opted for the Teach First programme recorded some of their experiences for the organisation's website, http://www.teachfirst.org.uk

Sid Djerfi said: "I think one of the essential things about my attraction to Teach First is I believe that I am one of those kids that we're trying to help.

"I grew up in a similar background, and education made such a difference to my life it gave me opportunities that just moved me up in life, I believe, and I was very grateful for that."

Paul Durkin said: "There was a time when I walked into a classroom and I had 30 blank faces in front of me, and that scared the living hell out of me, and at the end of the class there'd still be 30 blank faces.

"After about a month I could get one light bulb to get on, and then after three months I could get three light bulbs to go on. And eventually after much hard work I managed to have 30 light bulbs all in front of me understanding what it was I was trying to teach them."

Jennifer Hall said: "My first class was a group of 33 — 30 boys and three girls, and there was a frog thrown across the room, they played hide and seek under the desks, and I kind of just stood there and was like 'open your books on page 83', it just didn't work.

"Being yourself I think is really important. In the first term I tried to be very serious and wouldn't take any messing and, actually, my personality is not to be that serious, and so you have to combine the two and make sure that, yes, you've got routines and you're strict, but the pupils also see who you really are."

Nigel Ball said: "For me, it was very much about wanting to work in a school where there was a great need for teachers and for good teachers.

"And it appealed to me because I thought, well, from my own experience at school the teacher is the thing that matters most — it was certainly the thing that mattered most to me — far more than the fancy resources, the classroom, the anything else. It was the teacher that made the difference."