Get Into Teaching: is a career in teaching right for you?

Get Into Teaching is a free information service from the Department for Education, designed to support people throughout their journey to becoming a teacher. Read on to find out how to become a teacher in England, and what you can do right now to develop your skills.

Get Into Teaching at a glance: 

Jen, a qualified primary teacher and explore teaching adviser for Get Into Teaching, tells us what Get Into Teaching is and how they can support you to become a teacher. 

What is Get Into Teaching? 

Get Into Teaching is a free information service from the Department for Education, designed to support people throughout their journey to becoming a teacher in England.

We provide advice and guidance to help people decide if teaching is right for them, as well as sharing inspiring stories from people with experience as a teacher. 

What should students know about being a teacher? 

Teaching is a job that a lot of people think they know, but there’s so much more to teaching than you might realise. There aren’t many jobs where you get to go home each day knowing you’ve made a real difference to a young person’s life. Through your training, you’ll develop the adaptability to teach all kinds of subjects and age ranges. You can also shape your teaching career by taking on additional roles in school, like being a form teacher, head of careers, or special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).

Javeria has been a maths teacher for the last six years. She told us:

When I was thinking about becoming a teacher, I had a look at the Get Into Teaching website to see if I was eligible for funding. I was, so I applied. If you're thinking of doing your teacher training, there is funding available. Have a look at the Get Into Teaching website. They have expert advisers that will give you one-on-one guidance and hold your hand through the process.

For information about applying for tuition fee and maintenance loans, as well as subject specific bursaries and scholarships, take a look at our Get Into Teaching website, which we link to at the end of this guide.

How can students become a teacher? 

To become a teacher, you’ll need GCSEs in maths and English at level 4 or above, plus science if you want to become a primary teacher. You’ll also need qualified teacher status (QTS), and there are three ways you can achieve this: 

1. Do an undergraduate degree followed by postgraduate teacher training (for primary teaching your undergraduate degree can be in any subject, but for secondary teaching you’ll need a degree related to the subject you want to teach). 
    
2. Do undergraduate teacher training to get a degree alongside QTS.
    
3. Do a teacher degree apprenticeship. 

For primary teaching your degree can be in any subject, but for secondary teaching you’ll need a degree related to the subject you want to teach.

To learn about each of these routes, take a look at our website, which we link to at the end of this guide. 

What should students be doing right now? 

To become a teacher, you’ll need a range of skills, some of which you can start working on now! For example, volunteering at your own school events will enable you to work with your teachers in a different light and develop skills in building relationships with adults. 

You can also get some experience outside of school, for example by joining a local youth club where you can support some of the younger children, or perhaps brownies, guides, scouts, or a sports club. Volunteering for any of these organisations will enable you to gain experience of working alongside adults and children in a semi-professional nature.

 

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