How to Become a Teacher in the UK?
Deciding whether or not to apply for a teaching profession is as important as picking your next job. This is a 100% challenging job. But despite that, it can give you huge rewards. The longer you stay in your job, the higher the number of rewards you can receive.
In this post, we are going to discuss a thorough guide about applying for a teacher in the United Kingdom. This post will greatly help you in determining whether or not it is the right career that suits you. So, if you want to know more about it, then keep reading.
Why Being a Teacher is a Good Profession?
Most people think that teaching and relaying information to the learners is a daunting task. Well, it is. Even though you have a passion for teaching or you love the idea of teaching, there will be times that you feel daunted. Despite that being a teacher is a tough job that makes even tougher by the crowd, the benefits and potentials you can get from it will outweigh its daunting ideas. This is always true for those who are making a leap in their profession.
For beginners, there are only a few jobs that will enable you to experience the feeling of affecting someone’s life positively, which includes teaching. Being a teacher requires you to divide your time, mind, and body into several activities. This is the primary reason a lot of people do not choose teaching as their first profession.
The following are the steps you need to follow if you are going to take teaching as a serious profession of yours. Get to know more about it by reading further.
How to Qualify in the Teaching Profession in the United Kingdom?
If you are planning to share your knowledge and teaching experiences with students in the UK, one of the requirements you need to comply with is a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). A lot of undergraduate teachers training courses allow teachers to get their QTS. On the other hand, if you already achieved a degree after college, you may consider enrolling yourself in a postgraduate teacher training course.
Primary of Secondary Teacher?
Aside from QTS, those who are planning to be primary teachers are required to have a grade C/4 in both English and Mathematics at GCSE science. In this case, think about the age range of students you want to teach in primary schools considering that postgraduate qualifications are always related to below age ranges:
- 3 to 7-year-olds
- 5 to 11-year-olds
- 7 to 11-year-olds
- 7 to 14-year-olds
If you are going to take part as a primary teacher, you might consider teaching specialized subjects, such as PE, languages, or mathematics. If you prefer training middle schoolers, those aging seven to fourteen years old, you need to have a specialized secondary subject and understand the primary national curriculum.
On the other hand, the subjects you are going to teach as a secondary teacher are related to the subjects you have learned during your university days. In this case, it is important to check your qualifications as it will provide you with more options to teach than what you have expected. But this will always depend on your qualifications.
If you find yourself that you are not qualified for the subject you want to teach as a secondary teacher, you might consider taking SKE (Subject Knowledge Enhancement). The courses included in SKE will enable you to improve your knowledge as well as your qualification to reach the required level to get your desired subject.
Is Funding Available for Teacher Training?
If you are a trainee teacher, you can access three different funding types. Varying on the circumstances you are in, you might get qualified to access these three types of funding.
- Scholarship or Tax-Free Bursary – This funding is ranging from 28,000 Euros. The availability of this funding depends on the subject you are teaching.
- Maintenance Loan and Tuition Fee Loan – The availability of this type of funding depends on the subject you are teaching as well as your qualifications.
- Extra Financial Support – This type of funding is available if you or your dependants have disability/ies. This is available despite the subject you are teaching.
Other Steps to Becoming a Teacher in the United Kingdom
There are also a lot of ways you can do to save money while doing your training to be a professional teacher in the UK. Here are some of these options:
Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship
This Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship enables you to earn money while teaching students in a room. You will be paid according to the 20 percent of your overall time spent for reaching your QTS. In this case, you will be taking EPA (End-Point Assessment) to ensure that you are already equipped to be an NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher).
School Direct (Salaried)
The School Direct (salaried) positions are available despite the school you are teaching. This is another effective option to earn while learning. Considering that the school will recruit and hire you as their trainer, this might be a good path you may take after you finished your pieces of training.
The program will provide you with QTS. In some cases, other schools may give you Masters or PGCE level credits. Take note that this option will depend from school to school. Thus, it is important to check your location and the payment offered by the school before applying.
You may start your application process by visiting the gov.UK site to find postgraduate teacher training courses page. On this site, you can search for the training courses that offer you with salary.
Teach First
You can be a qualified member of Teach First by complying with more than 2:1 at undergraduate levels. This is quite challenging. But rest assured that it offers you a rewarding route that enables you to reach your QTS during your initial years. This will be followed by achieving your NQT placement after several months or years.
