One of Bradford’s leading employers is to supply some of its top graduates to act as coaches in some of the region’s poorest performing schools in a bid to boost results among pupils, mainly in deprived areas.

Digital technology group Pace plc, based at Saltaire, has signed up to the global TeachFirst project, which already operates in 40 Yorkshire schools, including ten in Bradford, in a region which has the lowest attainment levels for pupils achieving 5 A* to C grades at GCSE.

TeachFirst prioritises schools with higher levels of deprivation measured by the proportion of under 16s living in low income households.

In Bradford, 66 per cent of secondary schools and 53 per cent of primary schools fall into that category.

Pace’s backing for the programme was unveiled by chief executive Neil Gaydon at the Bradford Chamber of Commerce annual dinner where he was the keynote speaker.

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