Suzanne Hills is glad she changed career

Accountants, bankers, scientists and sales executives were among those looking for a change, England's Teacher Training Agency found.

They made the move despite some facing a drop in income to �18,558 a year.

The TTA survey, of 571 newly qualified staff, found eight out of 10 were keen for an "intellectual challenge".

'Creative classrooms'

Some 78% gave this as a reason for changing career.

Meanwhile, 89% cited working with young people - the focus of the TTA's recent �12m advertising campaign, featuring the slogan "Use your head: teach".

Nearly a quarter of teachers in maths who had changed jobs had worked in banking or accountancy.

One in six science teachers had been scientists, while 15% of new language teachers had worked in sales before altering careers.

Mike Watkins, the TTA's recruitment director, said teaching offered a range of new experiences compared with other professions.

It's positive for the pupils to know I've given up what they consider a glamorous career to work in a school Former TV presenter Suzanne Hills

"Classrooms are very creative places and interacting with young people on a daily basis means that the job is constantly stimulating and intellectually challenging," he said.

Suzanne Hills, 29, changed career from TV presenting to teaching science at Cheney School, Oxford.

Having previously studied zoology, biology and geology at Swansea University, she feels her accumulated skills serve her well in the classroom.

Ms Hills told BBC News: "Most of my job is about getting the point across. In TV the audience was passive, whereas here it's active, and you have to keep its attention.

"It's positive for the pupils to know I've given up what they consider a glamorous career to work in a school.

"I also get to use my degree training more, while being a people person. I feel I've gained from this job, rather than giving anything up."

We are teaching vocational classes now in school that relate very much to what's going on in the workplace Alan Roach, head teacher

At Chalvedon School in Basildon, head teacher Alan Roach employs several teachers with a background in business and said they had made a huge difference.

"We are teaching vocational classes now in school that relate very much to what's going on in the workplace," he told BBC News.

"These are people who don't need to be primed with regard to the world of work.

"They know their subjects, they know where it is the children can end up once they have the skills and knowledge they are acquiring in school. That gives the children pathways they would not otherwise have had."

Last November, the TTA announced that more people were training to become teachers than at any time since 1975.

Some 34,400 began courses in 2004 - with another 7,000 learning on the job.