A failing academy school which has advertised for two unqualified maths teachers was flooded with applications from campaigners yesterday in protest over Tory education policy.

South Leeds Academy said its ideal candidate should hold at least four GCSEs, while experience of a similar role was "desirable."

But headteacher Collette Jones has more choice than first expected after the advert was posted on Twitter by the Teacher Roar campaign.

Comedian Mark Thomas saw the advert before his sell-out gig in Nottingham on Thursday and convinced his audience to apply for the jobs.

Sharing the school's advert on Twitter he wrote: "Just showed this ad to my audience. We have agreed to apply."

Fellow comedian Mark Steel replied: "Wahey, I'll apply. I'm fucking useless at maths, I'm a shoe-in."

Hundreds of other users then joined in the protest, exposing the state of schooling under Education Secretary Michael Gove.

National Union of Teachers deputy leader Kevin Courtney said parents would be "absolutely shocked" if their children were being taught by someone with four GCSEs.

He added: "It gives the lie to Michael Gove's claims that his policy is to allow top professionals such as engineers to become teachers and shows it is about teaching on the cheap."

The advert comes just two weeks after the school was warned about "unacceptably low standards" by the Department for Education.

A school spokesperson said: "The advert should have made clear that this post was for the appointment of trainees."

A 12-page job application stated that the teachers would fulfill a "key role for the academy as we move forward."

It added: "We are now ready to take the next step on our journey to becoming an outstanding academy."

The spokesperson said: "There was an omission in the advert that was published.

"The advert should have made clear that this post was for the appointment of trainees to support the teaching of mathematics with the potential opportunity to then progress as a trainee teacher."