Teacher training : Subjects

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.

What subject?

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.

The national curriculum

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. 

What subjects will I teach at primary level?

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).

What subjects can I teach at secondary level?

Secondary schools cover KS3 (14-16 years old) and KS4 (11-14 years old), and sometimes post-16.

KS3 compulsory subjects are:

• English;
• mathematics;
• science;
• design and technology;
• information and communication technology (ICT);
• history;
• geography;
• modern foreign languages;
• art and design;
• music;
• citizenship;
• physical education;
• religious education (additional statutory);
• PSHE - personal, social, health and economic education (non-statutory).

For KS4, the compulsory subjects are:

• English;
• mathematics;
• science;
• information and communication technology (ICT);
• physical education;
• citizenship.

Pupils also study one subject from each of the four 'entitlement' areas:

• arts subjects;
• design and technology;
• humanities;
• modern foreign languages.

Schools also offer subjects outside this core list, e.g. drama, dance, and media studies, and courses exist to accommodate them.

Vocational subjects

There are a number of vocational subjects taught in schools preparing students for:

• applied GCSEs in leisure and tourism, business, engineering and manufacturing;
• BTEC, GNVQ in subjects such as art and design, business, health and social care, IT, media, public services, science and sport;
• diplomas were introduced in 2008 for 14-19 year olds and are designed to bridge the gap between academic and vocational learning. There are 14 subjects available.