Primary school teacher: Career development

Career progression may be through a specialist curriculum or pastoral role, or by moving into management. Geographical mobility can improve prospects. Teachers may become coordinators of their specialist subject or a cross-curricular area, such as special needs.

Classroom expertise is recognised by the status of advanced skills teacher (AST) and the Excellent Teacher Scheme (ETS) in England and Wales. ASTs share their knowledge and expertise with colleagues in other schools in the local authority.

Excellent teachers (ETs) are experienced teachers who are appointed to raise the quality of teaching within a school by helping other teachers to improve their skills and knowledge and supporting other staff. They also have a responsibility for improving pupil attainment across the school.

The National College for School Leadership  offers accelerated leadership development programmes, designed to enhance the careers of especially talented teachers, offering early responsibility and higher salaries for qualified teachers. It is possible to reach deputy head/head level within ten years and even more quickly for those in designated accelerated positions.

Some teachers move out of schools and into further or higher education or other related jobs, such as:

• Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted)  inspection;
• teacher training;
• local education authority;
• examination board administration;
• education officer - often employed at museums, art galleries and zoos.

Many of the skills gained as a teacher are also valued by employers outside education. Some teachers retrain for other careers, such as social work, guidance work or management roles within the public or private sector, where they continue to use the skills acquired in teaching. There are some opportunities for self-employment. These include private tutoring, writing educational materials and running a small private school.