Teacher training
To work as a teacher in state-maintained schools in England and Wales you need to have professional qualified teacher status (QTS). For further information on teaching in other areas of the United Kingdom see teaching in Scotland and teaching in Northern Ireland.
Teachers in independent schools are not required to have QTS, but most do. Many independent schools do not offer a QTS induction year.
To be awarded QTS by the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) you must:
If you want to work as a teacher with the full range of responsibilities in further education (FE) colleges or sixth form colleges, you need Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) status or QTS.
All trainee school teachers are prepared for teaching across two key stages (KS):
Although you can apply for several different age ranges, it can be difficult to be convincing in your personal statement about your motivation for more than one age group. Find out which age range you feel most comfortable with by getting some work experience in a school.
Once you have achieved QTS, it is legal for you to teach any age range, although it can be difficult to move from one age range to another. Most teachers stay within the age ranges they trained to teach. If you want to change age range once you are qualified, you will need to build up a portfolio of evidence to persuade the head teacher you are able to teach a different age range.
The information in this section only applies to England. See teaching in Scotland, teaching in Wales and teaching in Northern Ireland for more about the other UK countries.
For middle years, secondary, further education (FE) and a few primary training courses, you need to specialise in a subject. Once you have gained QTS, you are legally qualified to teach any subject. It is common to find teachers in schools teaching subjects other than those they specialised in during their teacher training.
To teach students with special educational needs (SEN), see special educational needs teacher.
Pupils aged 5 to 16 in maintained schools (including community, foundation, specialist status, new academies, city technology colleges, voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled schools) must be taught the national curriculum. The national curriculum states the subjects children must study according to their age groups, called key stages (KS). See the National Curriculum Online for details.
Pupils are assessed at the end of each key stage, primarily by their teachers but with the addition of national standardised attainment tests (SATs) at the end of KS2.
Primary schools cover KS1 (5-7 years) and KS2 (7-11 years). As few primary courses offer a specialist area, you will need to feel confident about teaching a wide range of subjects, from mathematics to PE. The government’s aim is that by the end of the decade all children will have the opportunity to study a modern foreign language at KS2. This has resulted in an increase in the number of teacher training courses offering primary specialising in a language (most commonly French or German).
Secondary schools cover KS3 (14-16 years old) and KS4 (11-14 years old), and sometimes post-16.
KS3 compulsory subjects are:
For KS4, the compulsory subjects are:
Pupils also study one subject from each of the four 'entitlement' areas:
Schools also offer subjects outside this core list, e.g. drama, dance, and media studies, and courses exist to accommodate them.
There are a number of vocational subjects taught in schools preparing students for:
The information in this section applies to England. For variations in the other countries of the UK, see teaching in Scotland, teaching in Wales and teaching in Northern Ireland. Also check Eurydice and Directgov .
Education in the UK falls into two sectors: state maintained and independent. An understanding of the system will help you to decide where you would prefer to work.
Types of schools in England can be defined by who employs the staff, controls admission and owns the land and buildings. Combinations of local authorities (LA), school governing bodies and charitable trusts or religious organisations might be involved, and this gives rise to three main types of school:
Most state-maintained secondary schools are all-ability comprehensive schools, but a few are grammar schools, which select pupils according to ability.
Any maintained secondary school in England can apply to become a specialist school in technology, languages, sports, arts, business and enterprise, engineering, science, mathematics and computing, humanities or music. It is envisaged that specialist schools will play a key role in the delivery of diplomas.
Some schools have formed local partnerships with others and are known as federation schools.
For children unable to attend school, alternative provision is made in pupil referral units, secure training centres and children’s homes.
Local authorities may employ a community home/school teacher.
Services such as home teaching are provided through medical education teams for children and young people who have medical needs. The government is also funding projects to find new and innovative ways of providing for these groups.
Children with special needs are usually provided for in the mainstream school environment, but there are some state-maintained community or foundation special schools, non-maintained special schools (which have charitable status) and independent special schools.
To ensure teaching is the right career choice for you, it makes sense to get some classroom experience. Training providers want to know that you have the skills and motivation to teach, and you will usually be required to have experience of working with children of the relevant age - preferably in a school environment.
Some institutions only interview candidates with recent observation experience in a state school. For primary PGCE courses, many institutions stipulate that you should have completed a minimum of two weeks’ school-based observation before your interview. Some institutions require 30 days or more.
If you are not able to complete the experience quickly, do not delay sending your application, but state in the application that you have experience arranged in the near future.
Use your contacts through family and friends. You can also contact schools directly to ask for work experience or to observe classes or shadow teachers. EduBase has a list of all schools. Work experience in schools is popular and it may take time to arrange a placement. There are also a number of schemes through the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) :
A PGCE is usually a one-year, full-time course based in a university with substantial school placements. Courses are offered at two levels: Postgraduate Certificate in Education and Professional Certificate in Education. The Postgraduate Certificate offers optional Masters level credits but both certificates lead to the same qualified teacher status (QTS). Search for courses and apply through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) . More flexible PGCE courses are also available with part-time study, modular and/or distance-learning options. Training offered through these routes can be applied for through GTTR or directly to the institution.
Further details can be found in applying for a PGCE.
SCITTs operate in England and are usually one year, full time. A consortium of schools designs a training programme with partners including higher education (HE) institutions and the local authority (LA). Although these schemes include significant academic study, they are highly practical and most of your time is spent in a base school. Successful completion leads to qualified teacher status (QTS) and possibly a PGCE.
Apply through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) for most schemes but for a complete list see Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) .
The GTP allows you to qualify as a teacher while employed by a school in England or Wales. The training lasts one year, but it could take as little as three months, depending on your previous experience. During this year you are paid on the unqualified teacher scale. Successful completion leads to QTS and in some cases a PGCE.
Some employment based initial teacher training (EBITT) providers will help you find a school, while others will expect you to find a school before applying. A list of providers is available from the TDA. For GTP in Wales see Teacher Training & Education in Wales .
This route allows candidates with substantial teaching experience to compile and submit a portfolio to demonstrate they meet the standards required to achieve QTS. Visit the TDA for more information on assessment-based training.
Teach First is a two-year programme in London, the East Midlands, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, the North West and the North East, within both secondary and primary schools. It is aimed at graduates with a 2:1 or above and 300 UCAS points. It combines working towards QTS and PGCE with leadership development training, coaching and mentoring.
Postgraduate-level teacher training courses (PGCE, SCITT, GTP), particularly at secondary level, require substantial subject knowledge. A pre-ITT subject knowledge enhancement scheme is available for subjects including secondary maths, physics, chemistry, design technology, information and communication technology (ICT) and modern foreign languages. See the TDA website to find a course in your region.
There are two teaching roles in the FE sector - full and associate. Full teachers undertake the complete range of teaching and planning tasks while associate teachers have more limited responsibility. For full teaching roles, the qualification required is Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) (similar to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in compulsory education). See further education lecturer for more information.
Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) will be closing in 2011 but resources will remain accessible. The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) is responsible for taking forward developments within this sector and will be hosting future resources.
The following applies to full teaching roles:
Other qualifications available in this sector include:
To become a university lecturer, you normally need to study for Masters or PhD qualifications in the specialist subject area you want to teach. Lecturers can study for teaching qualifications once in post and the Higher Education Academy accredits university teaching and learning courses. The PGCE courses that offer higher education as an option are usually taken by those who intend to work in further education colleges on degree-level courses such as foundation degrees or HNDs. For more information see higher education lecturer.
All Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses include placements in schools to develop your teaching skills to professional standards set by the government.
A minimum of 18 weeks of classroom-based training is required for primary initial teacher training (ITT) courses and 24 weeks for secondary - usually in two schools. Because of the need to meet these requirements, ITT courses tend to be similar to each other, and it may be difficult to choose where to apply. Research the institutions via their websites and open days. Discuss your ideas with your careers adviser or with other people you trust.
When choosing your course, you should consider:
UK and EU students on some Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) courses in England are eligible for a government bursary of £6,000-£9,000. They are charged tuition fees. However, the fees do not have to be paid up front as student maintenance grants and loans can cover most of the amount charged.
More information on fees and funding is available from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) .
See the separate information on teaching in Scotland, teaching in Wales and teaching in Northern Ireland for details of training and funding elsewhere in the UK.
Non-repayable bursaries are available for trainee teachers on full and part-time primary and secondary PGCE courses, SCITT schemes and some PGCEs in further education. The amount you receive depends on your subject area.
For 2011/12, bursaries are as follows:
The ‘golden hello’ scheme will close to postgraduate students starting their teacher training in 2011/12 or later. Students who started their postgraduate teacher training course before 1 August 2011 can still apply.
There is a tuition fee loan, paid directly to your university, to cover fees. There are also student loans and grants designed to help towards living costs. See Direct Gov - Student Finance for more information about loans, grants and eligibility.
The fee loan and loan for living costs will not have to be repaid until you are working and earning over £15,000 a year.
All students starting PGCE and SCITT courses will be eligible to apply for a means-tested maintenance grant.
Other support is available for certain groups of students, e.g. students with disabilities and students with dependent children. If you are in financial hardship, you can also apply to your university for help from the access to learning fund.
Part-time PGCE trainee teachers receive the same package of financial support as is available to all part-time higher education students (see Direct Gov - Student Finance for more information).
When going through the selection process, you will be expected to show an awareness of current education issues. Changes are anticipated in teacher training provision during 2011-2012, including the introduction of teaching schools. You are advised to access the latest education updates on government websites and in the press, for example:
Do not, however, be overwhelmed by all the information - you are not expected to be an expert on education policy.
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