ON-THE-JOB training has become the latest way to get potential teachers to take the plunge and this week sees the relaunch of a programme to do just that.

The Graduate Registered Training Programme (GRTP) was started 18 months ago by the Government to attract more people into teaching.

The scheme allows teachers to train as they work, combining tutorials and seminars with real-life classroom experience day after day in front of 30 children.

The programme differs from the conventional Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), which is studied at University after completing a degree, in another fundamental way - a trainee under the GRTP scheme receives a salary, and only slightly less than that of of a newly qualified teacher.

This, for many trainees, is the deciding factor. The £6,000 maintenance grant currently offered to PGCE students is often not enough without savings to fall back on.

The direct route also holds appeal to classroom assistants who want to become teachers and to teachers who have qualified abroad but require a British qualification.

For Mr Steve Redman, 27, with a PhD in chemical physics from the University of Bristol, the course was an ideal way to access a new career without incurring greater costs.

He said: 'I wouldn't have [become a teacher] had I not had the opportunity to do the GRTP. I had been broke as a student and didn't want to live like that any more.'

The course demands that trainees find a school willing to give them a job, pay them and help with their training.

In the past, the financial burden has caused many schools to turn away applicants, but the burden was lifted in March by the Government.

Education minister Estelle Morris announced that funding was available for 1,500 trainees at primary and secondary schools from September. Participating schools will receive £13,000 per trainee and additional funding for training materials.

The new funding is being promoted in a series of articles on behalf of the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) in The Times Educational Supplement from today (Friday).

Ms Anna Campopiano, director of communications at the agency, is confident the money will encourage more potential teachers to come forward.

She said: 'We are going to be giving priority to candidates that meet national and regional criteria - teachers in science, mathematics, modern languages, information and communication technology and design and technology, and applicants that make teaching more representative of society.

'It is very exciting and will mean removing a major barrier to joining the teaching profession.'

For Mr Redman, teaching had never been a consideration until, in the final stages of his PhD, he heard that his former school, Watford Grammar School for Boys, was in desperate need of a physics teacher.

He said: 'It was an ideal opportunity to find out whether I liked teaching or not.

'I loved it. I have never done anything as tiring in my life or as challenging. My PhD bored me because there was no interaction.

'In a classroom you are working with 30 characters and you have to get the best out of each one.'

Mr Redman found out about GRTP via the Internet when he was already working closely with teaching staff at the school in Rickmansworth Road, Watford. He and the headteacher realised the scheme was a natural progression.

Under the scheme, Mr Redman became affiliated to the University of Hertfordshire, which put together his training and assessment programme.

All trainees, who must be graduates, are assessed to find which teaching skills they already have and which they need to learn. A mentor in the school is appointed and the trainee is required to keep a record of their training.

Mr Redman said: 'This was the first time the school had taken part in the scheme, but it was very positive. The headteacher saw there was a shortage of physics teachers and this was a way of getting them in.'

Schools and potential trainees interested in applying for the GRTP funding should can contact the TTA on 0845 6060323 or visit its web site at www.teacher-tta.gov.uk

Applications to begin training in September must be in by Friday, June 23.