New Year, New Career... Become a Teacher!

Traditionally, New Year is a time when people rethink their job options and teaching is a popular job choice. Those with established careers continue to change jobs and retrain as a teacher, which provides strong evidence that changing to a teaching career is more achievable than you think!

The teaching profession has excellent rewards and challenges and is generally in demand, providing steady jobs and job security.

For those of you with or without a degree, below is information you may wish to consider to help you along your way to becoming a talented inspirational teacher…

There is a range of teaching courses and each option will include the following:-

• A minimum of 24 weeks practical experience in at least two secondary schools (18 weeks for primary)
• Academic study to learn and understand how to successfully teach
• An assessment of your teaching skills including classroom observations

Those of you with a degree…

There are several options available with teaching to suit a wide selection of post-graduates. The main courses are:-

• School Direct (salaried)
• School Direct (non-salaried)
• Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)

For those that have been working for around three years and are changing career, School Direct (salaried) is available exclusively for you. You’ll be based in a school and will teach from an early stage of the course as well as earn a teacher trainee’s salary.

The School Direct (non-salaried) course consists of similar aspects to the School Direct (salaried) option; the main difference is no salary is paid, however other monetary benefits may be available, such as grants or bursaries.

School Direct is a popular choice because you work in a network of schools, providing you with a range of experience and if you’re successful, you are likely to get a job in one of your training schools.

Most training providers offer the PGCE course and is at the same level academically as the final year of an honours degree course and focuses on developing teaching skills. Some people may say that this course “eases you in gently” as you begin learning the theory of teaching before being “thrown into the deep end”, i.e. teaching in a school from the start of your teacher training!

All of the above courses listed can include additional qualifications but this is dependent on the course provider. It is advisable to check with the relevant institution and see if there course criteria meets your requirements.

Most training programmes involve a year’s full time study, but some are flexible and allow part-time study over two years, perfect for those who wish to continue working part-time.

Don’t have a degree?

Don’t worry! There are over 37,000 courses available at over 370 providers! So, if you are not degree qualified, you will certainly have a range of choice when choosing a degree course. You’ll be required to attend a university teaching course for normally three years (dependent on your provider) to gain this qualification. At the end of these three years you’ll be qualified to teach!

As there are a large number of institutions that provide different courses, you should check the course details directly at the university you wish to attend.

For more information on all of the above, visit the UCAS website. 

Are you looking to become a teacher but you don't already have a degree? No problem! Here is how you can become a qualified teacher without an existing degree level qualification.