Lea Michele wants to return to 'Glee' as a substitute teacher after her character leaves.

The 25-year-old actress is due to depart the musical drama at the end of series three when her character Rachel Berry graduates from William McKinley High School but she has already been thinking about ways she could come back.

She said: "After I leave I would love to do many things. I'd love to go back to Broadway or do a film, or maybe comeback as a substitute teacher!"

Lea has even been considering ways that her character could stay – including Rachel failing her senior year.

She joked: "I could flunk! Which can happen. I can fail my classes, so I'm going to see how I feel and then decide. Obviously, I can't be on the show forever but I think I look fairly young."

Although she accepts her time on 'Glee' is drawing to an end, Lea just wants to enjoy the final series before she starts worrying about what she is going to do next.

The actress – who this week announced she had separated from her actor boyfriend Theo Stockman after dating him for 17 months - said: "I know what is coming for Rachel this season and I am so excited about that. I try not to get too ahead of myself and I am just focusing on what I have to do now. Thinking about life without Rachel Berry is pretty overwhelming. I haven't really thought about that yet."