Outstanding teachers are to be sent into struggling coastal and rural schools, the government has announced.

Education secretary Nicky Morgan said she was "acutely aware that recruitment isn't easy at the moment for lots of schools".

As the economy improved and demand for graduates grew, more needed to be done to recruit and retain great teachers, she said.

"We also need to get teachers into the right places, said Ms Morgan.

"We can't simply have most of our best teachers concentrated in some areas – that isn't a one nation education, far from it.

"We need great teachers right across the country."

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Ms Morgan outlined her plan in a speech to the Policy Exchange think-tank in London on Tuesday (3 November).

The creation of a National Teaching Service would get the best teachers and middle leaders into underperforming schools in areas where they are needed most, she said.

"We know that the areas I've named today – coastal towns and rural areas – struggle because they struggle to recruit and retain good teachers," said Ms Morgan.

"They lack that vital ingredient that makes for a successful education. The National Teaching Service will play a key part in solving this problem."

By 2020, the National Teaching Service would have deployed 1500 outstanding teachers and middle leaders to underperforming schools, said Ms Morgan.

"These outstanding teachers will be employed by these schools for up to 3 years.

"They will not only be expected to bring outstanding teaching into the classroom, but also to improve the quality of teaching and leadership right throughout the school."

That programme will launch next September in north-west England, targeting teachers and middle leaders to areas with a lack of outstanding secondary schools.

"We'll continue to look at what incentives we need to attract these outstanding teachers, and how the programme can fast-track participants onto leadership opportunities."

Ms Morgan said she wanted the National Teaching Service to be a valuable, inspiring experience for participants as well as the schools they join.

Eventually, it would become a "rite of passage for many more great teachers," she hoped.