The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) has launched a ‘man hunt’ to encourage more men into primary school teaching.

It is hosting a series of nationwide seminars aimed at encouraging male graduates to apply for primary school training places. The TTA has set a target of a 20% increase by the 2004-2005 academic year.

Primary training providers claim that men miss out on training places for primary schools “because men often apply late and take less care over their applications than female candidates”.

They also tended to prepare less well than women for interviews, they added.

As an additional incentive, in a trial scheme the government is repaying the student loans of newly-qualified teachers in priority subjects such as maths, science and modern languages.

This initiative follows the TTA’s £12m ‘Use your head – teach’ advertising campaign.

Newly qualified teachers can earn from £18,000 to £30,000 (in inner London).