Rowling’s top marks for best teacher

The magical school she created may be fictional, but many children believe JK Rowling would be a wizard in their classrooms, a poll suggests.

A new survey reveals that the Edinburgh-based Harry Potter author is children’s most popular choice when it comes to the perfect female teacher.

And Hogwarts’ famous headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was the most popular choice for perfect male teacher.

But parents have a different view of perfection, opting for Carol Vorderman and Stephen Fry as the ideal people to teach their offspring.

The survey, carried out by YouGov, asked parents and children to pick people they thought would make perfect male and female teachers from a list of celebrities and well-known figures.

Two fifths of the children questioned said JK Rowling would make the perfect female teacher. Miss Honey, the teacher from Roald Dahl’s Matilda (26 per cent), Cheryl Cole (25 cent) and the Duchess of Cambridge (21 per cent) also scored highly.

Among parents, TV presenter Carol Vorderman was the top choice with 48 per cent. Next was actress Helen Mirren (36 per cent), JK Rowling (31 per cent) and comedienne Dawn French (27 per cent).

When it comes to the perfect male teacher, 36 per cent of children selected Dumbledore, while 26 per cent thought Yoda from Star Wars would do well in front of the blackboard, and the same proportion said chef Jamie Oliver would be perfect in the classroom.

Stephen Fry was picked by 40 per cent of parents, making him the most popular option, followed by naturalist David Attenborough with 35 per cent.