What Qualifications Do You Need To Teach?

Choosing a teaching career is an extremely admirable life decision. You will play a part in shaping the future generation, developing children’s love for learning and certain subjects, and guiding them through the first few stages of their lives. First things first, you need to get qualified. There are a great range of ways you can get the esteemed Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), each one suited to different types of personalities, learners and financial situations.

With any career, experience is usually preferred. Before you commit your finances and time to further training, make sure you know this is the path you want to take. Once you have completed masters in teaching online, applying for a teaching job is the perfect way to see if you are suited to the classroom, and you can find vacancies across the country that suit a range of skills and knowledge…

The first thing you need to get qualified for the classroom is a degree and at least a C in GCSE Maths and English. If you want to be a primary school teacher, you will also need a C in Science. Don’t worry if you haven’t made the grades for GCSE, you can sit an equivalency test if need be. If you achieved your degree overseas, you need to ensure that it is equivalent to a UK degree.

There are a number of ways you can achieve QTS and thus begin teaching. A popular route is the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, which is University-led training. This path can be taken over a year full-time, or two years part-time. You will be taught by University lecturers on the theories underpinning learning, and the curriculum that you will be teaching.

Alongside this, you will also undertake at least 24 weeks’ worth of practical training, where you will work in placement schools and have the chance to apply what you have been learning. Throughout your time on the PGCE, you will be required to meet the standards for qualified teacher status and pass a professional skills test if you are in England.

Once you have done this, your training provider can then recommend you for Qualified Teacher Status. You can apply for a tax-free bursary, loan and grant to cover your tuition fees, with some financial incentives for certain subjects.

Another popular route towards gaining QTS is school-led training. This is a great choice for those who learn better whilst on the job, with the opportunity to experience at least two school environments. Providing you have met the required standards, after a year on the course you will achieve QTS. The vast majority of School Direct routes also award participants with a PGCE or masters credits too. Like the PGCE, there are financial incentives for choosing to teach certain subjects, with trainee Physics Teachers being offered the highest amount of funding support.

TeachFirst is a charity that provides an intensive summer course followed by two years of training. This is designed for top graduates (2:1 or above) looking to become future leaders.

If you aren’t a recent graduate and have over three years of work experience in any sector, there is a fantastic School Direct (Salaried) option available to you. Like the School Direct route, you will spend over a year in different schools, learning on the job whilst developing a great network of fellow teachers. The amount you earn on this route is dependent on the school and subject, but this year a number of schools are offering an enhanced salary of £25,000 for maths and physics trainees.

If you are an Armed Services Leaver, you can gain QTS without a degree. The two-year Troops to Teachers course not only leads to QTS, but a degree qualification too. This option will see you teach in a school for four days a week, and have one day of university based training to help you towards degree qualification.

Visit the government’s get into teaching page to find out more about your options and the routes that are right for you.