Education : Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree

• Primary school teacher - teaches a range of subjects to a class of pupils from the age range 4 -11 years and may have responsibility for delivering a particular subject across the school (e.g. music).
• Secondary school teacher - teaches one or more national curriculum subjects to classes of pupils aged 11-16 or 11-18.
• Early years teacher - fosters and develops the abilities, social skills and understanding of children aged three to five years, focusing on optimum child development and preparation for a successful transition to primary school education.
• Special educational needs teacher - teaches children with emotional, behavioural or learning difficulties at one or more stages in the SEN Code of Practice. They are also involved in identifying all levels of need.
• Further education lecturer - usually teaches a specific subject to students over 16 but increasingly to 14-19 year olds.
• Adult education lecturer - teaches specific subject areas to adults either within educational settings, in the community and increasingly through distance/remote learning
• Community education officer - works to promote and facilitate access to a wide range of voluntary educational activities by all members of the community, regardless of age.
• Youth worker - supports and encourages young people to become involved in local ‘informal’ educational activities.
• Education administrator - organises and oversees administrative activities and systems that support and facilitate the smooth running of an education institution. The majority are based in higher or further education, but opportunities are increasingly available in schools and private colleges.

Jobs where your degree would be useful

• Learning mentor - provides a complementary service to teachers and other staff, addressing the needs of children who require assistance in overcoming barriers to learning in order to achieve their full potential.
• Careers adviser/personal adviser - provides information, advice and guidance (IAG) inside and outside education. Advisers are employed to ensure that people (especially young people aged 13-19) achieve their full potential.
• Museum education officer - a museum education officer is responsible for realising the potential of the museum collections as learning resources and developing learning opportunities.
• Social worker - often works with people experiencing crisis or people who are socially excluded with the aim of providing support to enable service users to help themselves. Social workers maintain professional relationships with service users, acting as a guide, advocate or as a critical friend.
• Training and development officer - manages the learning of an organisation's workforce, delivering training sessions to participants or, in a more senior role, devises a training strategy for the organisation.

Other options

Going on to a teacher training course will require you to participate in some work experience in education. Many students go into local schools to observe or to help out and others participate in volunteer schemes organised by their careers service or education department. This includes the paid Student Associates Scheme  funded by the Teacher Development Agency (TDA) . If you are considering areas unrelated to education, it is still helpful to ‘test the water’ by trying to get some real experience, whether it is through volunteering, paid part-time work, work experience, vacation work or internships.

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it’s not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. Look at your degree... what next? for informed advice on career planning and graduate employment, or login/register with My Prospects to find out what jobs would suit you, a helpful starting point for self-analysis.

Explore types of jobs to find out more about the above options and related jobs.