A "new breed" of teachers is coming to the classroom as city professionals opt for a career change.

The Government’s Training and Development Agency for Schools, which is responsible for teacher training, says about 70% of inquiries about becoming teachers now come from professionals.

The increase in interest has been experienced locally, with a third of the applicants for six jobs advertised last term at Brighton College coming from people working in financial services.

Headmaster Richard Cairns said in the past no more than 10% would have been from this sector.

Recent recruits at the school include Andrew Daville, who has started as a physics teacher at the school on a salary of £34,000 - about half what he earned previously as a banker.

Mr Cairns, who started his own career as a solicitor in Australia, described the city recruits as a new breed who were changing schools with “a level of ambition that didn’t exist in the past”.

Universities have also enjoyed a rise in applications for courses from professionals looking to retrain and move into teaching as well as other fields.