Teaching in Schools

Depending on your qualifications and the age group you would like to teach, you can choose to work in primary or secondary education.

Primary and early years

Early years teachers work with children under the age of five. In a school setting you may work in a pre-school nursery or with a reception class. Teachers work within the framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They help children to develop and prepare for primary education.

Primary teachers work with children between the ages of four and eleven. They teach all subjects in the national curriculum but may specialise in a particular area, such as PE or maths. You will usually train to teach two key stages.

For entry on to a postgraduate teacher training programme you’ll need an undergraduate degree. Some training providers may prefer you to have a degree in a national curriculum subject.

See Prospects for job profiles:

• early years teacher
• primary school teacher

Secondary

Secondary teachers specialise in one or two subject areas. You will usually train to teach two key stages.

Your degree may need to be relevant to the subject you want to teach. Often the links between degree discipline and the national curriculum subjects are obvious. However, some may be less clear; eg if you’re studying for a degree in engineering you could train to teach maths, science or design and technology.

For shortage subjects, it may be possible to take a fully funded subject knowledge enhancement course. This would allow you to build up knowledge and train in the subject.

If you don't think your degree is relevant to any subject in the national curriculum, don't worry. It doesn't mean that you can’t become a teacher; your degree may have more relevance than you think. Contact training providers or the Get into Teaching helpline for more information and advice.

Prospects has a secondary school teacher job profile.

Special educational needs teacher

Special educational needs (SEN) teachers work with learners who need extra support. This includes children with:

• learning difficulties
• physical disabilities
• sensory impairment
• emotional or behavioural issues

All teaching courses cover an element of SEN training. There are some PGCE programmes that have a specialism in SEN teaching. Qualified teachers can also take additional training in SEN teaching.

Many teachers gain experience of working in mainstream schools before entering SEN teaching. Some schools will employ newly qualified teachers:

Prospects has a SEN Teacher job profile.

• good social skills
• the ability to communicate with children and young people
• excellent organisational skills
• the ability to manage a busy and complex workload
• leaderships skills
• the ability to work as part of a team and on your own
• ability to inspire and motivate pupils
• resilience when dealing with challenging pupils
• ability to build effective working relationships with pupils, parents, colleagues and external support agencies

You’ll also need enthusiasm, patience and a sense of humour!

There has been a recent pay review across the teaching sector. All qualified primary and secondary teachers will now have a starting salary of at least £30,000. This will be higher for teachers working in London.

Pay increases incrementally each year. A typical teacher could earn up to £41,333 (more in London) within 5 years.

There is a shortage of teachers in some subject subject areas. Bursaries and scholarships are available to attract and retain new entrants. Shortage subjects include maths and sciences, computing, languages and geography.

• browse our NCL Graduate Employment Outcomes directory. See examples of what our graduates were doing 15 months after their studies
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• search our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events, including recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• Get into Teaching
• The Times Educational Supplement

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.

Examples include:

• The Guardian Education
• The Times Educational Supplement
• Education Today
• BBC News Education

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

Get into Teaching run regular events across the country where you can find out more about careers in teaching and how to apply. 

See also our events, including recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

Join education-specific student societies. The NUSU Education Society often organises and promotes events or invites guest speakers to talk about their careers.

Use social media to find industry insights

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body or industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

• General Teaching Council
• College of Teaching

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

The PGCE combines study at a higher education institution with a minimum of 24 weeks teaching practice. You can apply for a PGCE to teach primary or secondary.

A PGCE takes one year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)

With a PGDE you will gain 120 master's credits (with a PGCE you will gain 60 credits). There is more academic work but it means you will qualify with two thirds of a masters rather than one third, which is useful for students aiming to do an MA or MEd.

School-led programmes can lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and, depending on the training provider, a PGCE and/or master’s level credits.

You will be recruited by a school. Often the training will lead to a job with the school or network of schools that you train with.

Training is provided by individual schools or a consortium of schools usually in partnership with a university.

Postgraduate teaching apprenticeships are a new training option for primary and secondary teacher trainees. They are a paid school-led route where you will be training on the job while working towards QTS.

Some programmes will also include a PGCE. You can apply for teaching apprenticeships through the DfE's Apply for teacher training service.

If you are a graduate who is employed as a teaching assistant, it may be possible to train as a teacher and gain QTS while you work. Programmes are available such as the TES Straight to Teaching programme which runs nationally.

Teach First is an intensive, two year Leadership Development Programme which combines training as a teacher and personal and business skills training. It also provides internship opportunities and mentoring.

Training is in schools based in low-income communities. At the end of the programme, successful participants will gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and have one year's teaching experience as a ‘Newly Qualified Teacher'.

Most teaching posts are advertised between March and April to start in September.

Teach First is a graduate teacher training scheme. Applications usually close in May.

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts

Search the external sites below for more opportunities:

In the North East

• Jobs in Schools North East – holds details of teaching jobs across the region.
• North East Jobs – has details of local authority vacancies across the North East
• First Class Supply – teaching supply agency based in the North East

UK

• The Times Educational Supplement (TES)
• The Guardian jobs
• Nursery World - vacancies for pre-school and early years teachers

Some local authorities will advertise teaching vacancies on their own website. LAs may also operate a pool application or teacher registration scheme, where one application is used for all vacancies matching certain criteria in the local area. See the GOV.UK website to find your local authority.

Start by identifying schools or education providers you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the school
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• search for schools or education providers on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience or been employed

Use the resources below to find schools or education providers in the North East and UK.

• GOV.UK: Find a school in England – database of schools, including an overview of each school and performance scores
• Independent Schools Council is a database of independent schools in the UK and Ireland. You should also check each school’s website for vacancies