Top music talent is in demand to help pupils fulfil their potential, says Diana Hinds

After spending three or four years at a conservatoire, music graduates generally aspire to carve out careers as soloists, ensemble players or orchestral musicians.

In reality most will build “portfolio” careers, including an element of teaching. Now there are moves to persuade more conservatoire graduates to consider starting out by teaching music in schools.

A government review of music education in England carried out by Darren Henley, managing director of Classic FM, recommends that conservatoires should work with the independent charity Teach First to create a Teach Music First programme. The aim is to encourage talented musicians to spend two years teaching music in schools after they graduate.

These proposals are under discussion and the Training and Development Agency for Schools says an announcement is expected next month.

Teach First, established in 2002, operates in six regions across England, placing high-calibre graduates in challenging schools for two years. The graduates are paid to teach in the classroom from the outset, gaining their postgraduate certificate in education after one year and developing management and leadership skills.

Although 770 graduates embarked on Teach First schemes this year, only a tiny minority are music graduates (mainly from universities, not conservatoires), so the new proposals would represent a significant boost for music teaching. “Schools need high-quality players and performers and to have students from conservatoires would be wonderful.” says Maureen Hanke, chairwoman of the Federation of Music Services.

Professor Janet Hoskyns, head of the School of Education at Birmingham City University and a music specialist, is also keen to attract conservatoire graduates. Teach Music First would help young musicians to see if they are cut out for that world, she says. “They do not have to be committed to it for ever but, if they like it and it works, it means schools are getting high-quality musicians who can make things buzz.”

But how enthusiastic are conservatoire graduates likely to be about working in a challenging school environment? Professor David Saint, acting principal of Birmingham Conservatoire, says it would not suit all. But, for a small number, particularly those who have shown an interest in community music, it would be “perfect”. “There is a wealth of creativity to be found in these students and some of them have a real desire to help others to appreciate music.”

Susan Sturrock, director of communications at the Royal College of Music, in London, agrees that some music students “develop a real vocation” for teaching while studying.

“My hope is that they would bring a level of performance and artistic standards that could be aspirational, as well as inspirational, for schools.”

Both Saint and Sturrock like the idea of the Music Educator qualification proposed by the Henley review. “This would mean that conservatoire students were acknowledged to be ready for teaching, as orchestral musicians involved in an outreach programme or as peripatetic teachers in music services,” Saint says.