When John-Paul Cooper-Richards left university over a decade ago, he dreamed of becoming a drama teacher.
But, saddled with thousands of pounds of debt, the theatre studies graduate was lured into a job in the financial services industry with a high salary promising to pay off his student loans.
"It was only meant to be a short-term solution," said the 35-year-old. "But I got comfortable with the good salary, bought a house and started a family. I thought ‘how can I give it all up?' I felt like it would be selfish to quit my job and before I knew it I had been working in an industry I never intended on being in for 13 years."
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But Mr Cooper-Richards has made the brave step to quit his job to become a teacher – and is one of 37 hopefuls currently being trained by Birmingham's Arthur Terry National Teaching School.
The school has been making waves in the education sector since it was launched three years ago. Based at Sutton Coldfield's 'outstanding' Arthur Terry School in Four Oaks, the teaching school is part of an alliance that sees it working in partnership with 22 schools across the West Midlands.
The trainee teachers split their time between learning on the job in the classroom and studying for a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) at Birmingham City University or the University of Birmingham. The project is so successful it became one of the first in the country to develop its own course, School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT), praised as ‘outstanding' by Ofsted.
Andy Chaplin, who looks after drama teacher trainees, said: "We recruit highly motivated graduates, either straight out of university or those looking for a career change, who are committed to inspiring and challenging young people. So many people have always thought about teaching but talk themselves out of it for various reasons.
"But being a teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world."
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The trainees benefit from being taught by some of the country's most outstanding teachers.
Mike Simmons, who looks after humanities trainees, said: "The aim is to develop the trainee's own identity so they do not have to emulate or be a clone of a single teacher or department to succeed.
"This helps when they make the move to another school through promotion or change of location as they are more equipped to deal with the differences in schools and departments due to their experience and strong understanding of how children learn as opposed to how one person teaches."
As well as its SCITT course, trainee teachers are also offered a place on the controversial School Direct scheme, which was first piloted in 2012.
Under School Direct, responsibility has been given to schools – like Arthur Terry Training School – rather than universities to recruit new teachers and organise their training.
But the lack of certainty over how many trainees they will be working with from year-to-year has caused serious concerns in higher education. Last year, both the University of Bath and the Open University announced they would close their PGCE programmes this summer – with School Direct cited as a factor.
And the National College for Teaching and Leadership has criticised the School Direct scheme for creating "instability and turbulence" in the system.
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There are also now growing concerns that a teacher shortage is looming as School Direct has been accused of failing to meet demand in some subjects, such as physics.
However, former education Minister Michael Gove, who introduced moves to boost school-centred training, attacked some universities in a speech in autumn last year – suggesting they relied on teacher training to "prop up their finances".
An independent review is currently under way into teacher training courses to decide how new teachers should be prepared for the classroom.
Figures released by the Government show that there will be 17,609 School Direct trainees next year, compared to 15,254 this year.And in Birmingham, Arthur Terry Training School is proving a big success with 100 per cent of its trainees last year walking straight into a teaching job.
Tom Surridge, 23, a former forensic scientist at West Midlands Police, is training to be a chemistry teacher.
He said: "For me, to be training within a school environment is fantastic. I feel much more confident that I will have a strong knowledge of my field by the time I finish the course."
Cathryn Mortimer, director of the teaching school, said: "We can see from the teachers who have trained with us, many of whom are still working within our partnership schools, that they are successful in developing learners.
"By working closely with our local universities we can continue to recruit and retain the highest quality of teachers that can have the most positive impact on education."
Sir Chris Stone, chief executive of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, is now set to shape the future of teacher training after being picked to join the executive committee of the Universities' Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET).
He said: "It doesn't matter what route student teachers follow, higher education, teaching school or School Direct are all part of our system.
"It's important to create enough excellent teachers to ensure that our schools are well staffed both now and in the future. No one single route can manage that alone so by working together we will have a better chance of ensuring that each child is taught by an excellent teacher."
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "The School Direct programme not only gives head teachers more influence and control over the way teachers are trained and recruited, but it is also helping to drive up standards across the profession.
"Universities will continue to play an important role in the delivery of teacher training, working closely with schools to shape and deliver training and continuous professional development that more closely matches the needs of the school, its pupils and teachers."