Secondary School Teacher Job Information | National Careers Service

The work

Your work would be in state or independent schools, teaching children aged from 11 to 16, or up to 19 in schools with sixth forms. You would:

• specialise in teaching one or two subjects
• teach classes of different ages and abilities throughout the school
• prepare pupils for exams like GCSEs and A levels.

You would also:

• prepare lessons and teaching materials
• mark and assess work
• manage class behaviour
• work with other professionals such as educational psychologists
• discuss pupils' progress with parents and carers
• attend meetings and training
• organise outings, social activities and sports events.

Some areas of England and Wales have middle schools. These take children from ages eight or nine up to ages 12 or 13. As a teacher in a middle school you would teach the primary or secondary curriculum, depending on the age of children in your class.

Hours

Teaching is for 39 weeks a year, usually from 9am to 3.30pm or 4pm. Outside of these hours you will be planning lessons, marking pupils' work and taking part in activities such as outings, parent evenings and training.

You could also do supply teaching where you work in different schools for short periods to cover the absences of permanent teachers.

Income

The main salary scale is from £21,588 to £31,552 a year (£27,000 to £36,387 in inner London and £25,117 to £35,116 in outer London).

Teachers who reach the top of the main salary scale may be able to move on to a higher scale, ranging from £34,181 to £36,756 (£40,288 to £43,692 in inner London).

There are also separate scales for teachers who have advanced skills or progress into leadership roles, and additional payments for those who take on extra responsibilities.

See details of all the salary scales on the Teaching Agency website.

• Teaching Agency – salary scales

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

The most common way to become a secondary school teacher is to do Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). The following ITT routes lead to QTS:

• undergraduate degree
• postgraduate award
• work-based programme.

For all of these routes, you will need:

• GCSEs (A-C) in English and maths (and science, depending on your teaching subject) or equivalent qualifications
• passes in numeracy and literacy skills tests
• Enhanced Disclosure checks through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

See the CRB for information on clearance.

• Criminal Records Bureau

You will also need experience of working with young people through paid work or volunteering for example, at a local school, through youth work or on a holiday scheme. The Teaching Agency has lots of advice about contacting schools for work experience. It also offers up to 10 days' classroom experience in certain secondary subjects through the School Experience Programme.

• School Experience Programme

Undergraduate degree route

You can study for a university degree and gain QTS at the same time by doing one of the following courses:

• BA (Hons) degree or BSc (Hons) degree with QTS
• Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree course.

These are usually full-time courses and take three to four years.

To get onto a degree course, you will usually need at least two A levels and at least five GCSEs (A-C). Universities may accept other qualifications such as an Access to Higher Education course. Check with course providers for their exact requirements.

Go to the UCAS website to search for degree courses.

• UCAS

Postgraduate routes


If you already have a degree related to the national curriculum, you can gain QTS by doing a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) course. Courses take one year, full-time or two years, part-time. A small number of flexible courses are available mainly aimed at those already working as unqualified teachers.

You can search for all PGCE courses and apply online on the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) website.

• Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR)

Find out more about national curriculum subjects on the following website:

• National Curriculum

Work-based routes


There are several options you can look at if you prefer to train and work in a school at the same time. These options are very popular and there is a lot of competition for places.

School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT)

SCITT is a classroom-based training programme that takes one year, and is aimed at those who already have a degree related to a national curriculum subject.

The programmes are run by groups of schools and colleges within a local area and you would spend time in one or more of the schools while doing your training.

School Direct

This option replaces the Graduate Teaching Programme and has two alternatives:

• School Direct Training Programme
• School Direct Training Programme (with salary – starting in September 2013).

You will need a degree for either option, and for the paid training route you will also need a minimum of three years’ working experience. The aim is to attract people into teaching, who can bring in skills and knowledge from commerce and industry.

You can apply directly to schools offering the programmes and work while you are training. Both options take around 12 months to complete and lead to QTS.

Contact the Teaching Agency for a list of schools taking part in School Direct.

Teach First

Teach First is a charity that runs a two-year teacher training and leadership programme for graduates with a good degree (2:1 or higher). Training is based within schools located in areas facing social and economic challenges. See the Teach First website for more details.

• Teach First

Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP)

Teachers who have teaching qualifications from another country should check the career opportunities pages of the Department of Education website for details about extra training that may be needed to work in schools in England and Wales.

• Department of Education overseas trained teachers

Moving from further education into school teaching

Since April 2012, lecturers in further education who hold Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status, and are members of the Institute for Learning, can be employed in primary or secondary schools as fully qualified teachers. See the Department of Education pages on QTLS recognition for more information.

• Department of Education QTLS recognition

Visit the Teaching Agency's Get into Teaching website for full details of all entry routes into teaching and funding for training.

• Teaching Agency - Get into Teaching

Northern Ireland


For details of routes into teaching in Northern Ireland see the Department of Education Northern Ireland website.

• Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI)

Training and development

When you have completed your ITT course, you will need to successfully complete three terms in a teaching job before you are fully qualified. During this time you would be supported by a mentor.

Throughout your teaching career you will also need to continue training to keep up to date with new methods and ideas in education. You could do this by attending training days in school and local authority training workshops.

The National College for School Leadership also offers programmes for:

• teachers who are taking on leadership and management responsibilities, including heads of subject or area and subject co-ordinators
• deputies, assistant heads and others looking to move up to their first headship
• newly-appointed, first time head teachers.

To find out more visit:

• National College for School Leadership

Transferring to another age group

You do not need to do further training to transfer to teaching another age group. However, schools recommend that you get some experience of the age group you are intending to teach. This could be on a voluntary basis.

Some local education authorities and teacher training institutions may offer short conversion or refresher courses.

Returning to teaching

If you are a qualified teacher wanting to return to teaching after a career break you can find information on the Teaching Agency website. This includes details of returners' courses and other available support.

• Teaching Agency — Get into teaching

Skills and knowledge

As a secondary school teacher you will need:

• enthusiasm for the subjects you teach
• the ability to develop good working relationships with a wide range of people
• the ability to work in a team as well as use your own initiative
• excellent creative ideas to inspire children
• good organisational and time-management skills
• the ability to manage classes and deal with challenging behaviour
• excellent communication skills
• patience and a good sense of humour.

More information

Teaching Agency - Get into Teaching
Teaching Information Line (freephone): 0800 389 2500
www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching

Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI)
Rathael House
Balloo Road
Bangor
BT19 7PR
Tel: 028 9127 9279
www.deni.gov.uk

Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR)
Rosehill
New Barn Lane
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL52 3LZ
Tel: 0871 4680 469
www.gttr.ac.uk

Opportunities

Most jobs are in state secondary schools. You could also work in independent schools, sixth form colleges, pupil referral units, hospitals, young offenders’ institutions or secure units.

As an experienced teacher you might become an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST), supporting other teachers as well as teaching your own classes.

In most schools you could progress to curriculum leader, head of department, deputy head teacher and head teacher. You could choose to specialise in teaching pupils with special educational needs or move into private tuition.

You may find the following links useful for vacancies and general reading (links open new window):

• Education Guardian

• Local council websites

• eteach.com
• Times Educational Supplement 


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