1. Home: Explore careers
  2. PE teacher

PE teacher

Alternative titles for this job include Physical education teacher

Physical education (PE) teachers work in schools and colleges, teaching sport and fitness to young people.

Average salary (a year)

£25,714 Starter

to

£41,604 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

37 to 45 term time

You could work

evenings / weekends attending events or appointments

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become a PE teacher

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role

University

You can do a sport or physical education degree with qualified teacher status (QTS).

You can also complete a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE), if you have a first degree without QTS. This can be done at university or on a school-based training programme.

There are more training options if you are a career changer or want to specialise in teaching certain subjects.

For information and advice see:

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • GCSE science at grade 9 to 4 (A* to C) for primary school teaching
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

More Information

Apprenticeship

You can get into this career through a postgraduate teaching apprenticeship, if you have a degree.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • GCSE science at grade 9 to 4 (A* to C) for primary school teaching
  • a degree for a teaching apprenticeship

More Information

Work

You may be able to get into teaching, if you're a PE or sports graduate, by working as a sports coach in a school, then moving onto a teacher training programme.

You'll need coaching qualifications in your specialist sport to do this.

Volunteering

You'll find it helpful to get some experience of working with young people though this is not essential. You can do this through paid work or by volunteering at a school, doing youth work or coaching at a sports club.

More Information

Registration

Career tips

You can attend teacher training events before you apply to get advice about the profession, the different training routes and funding. You can attend events in person and online.

Learning to drive is useful, as you may be expected to drive a minibus to take teams of pupils to sports events.

Further information

You can find out more about how to become a teacher from Get Into Teaching.

You can also search for jobs through the Teaching Vacancies service.

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • be able to motivate and inspire pupils of all abilities to take part and learn new skills
  • the ability to use your initiative
  • knowledge of English language
  • the ability to work well with others
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • leadership skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

Restrictions and Requirements

You'll need to:

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

You will:

  • prepare lessons and teaching materials
  • teach and coach a range of sports and physical activities to pupils of different ages and abilities
  • manage class behaviour, motivate and encourage all pupils to take part
  • work with learning support assistants to help pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
  • set and mark assignments and prepare pupils for exams
  • attend meetings and training
  • talk to parents and carers about their children's progress
  • work with other professionals such as educational psychologists, counsellors, social workers and mentors
  • organise events like sports days, field trips and matches with other schools and colleges
  • take registers, update records and write reports

Working environment

You could work at a school or at a college.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

You could become a specialist leader of education, supporting teachers in other schools. You could also become a curriculum leader, head of department, deputy head or headteacher.

You could use your experience to work in coaching or sports development.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

Apprentice Teacher - English

  • Wage: £18,169.00 Annually
  • Location: Birmingham
Find apprenticeships near you

Courses In England

Foundation Degree in Sports Science with Sports Coaching Education

  • Provider: BRIDGWATER AND TAUNTON COLLEGE
  • Start date: 19 September 2022
  • Location: Taunton

FdSc Sports Coaching, Fitness and Rehabilitation

  • Provider: ACTIVATE LEARNING
  • Start date: 14 September 2022
  • Location: Oxford
Find courses near you

Jobs In the United Kingdom

The Find a job service can help you with your search for jobs and send alerts when new jobs become available.

Search further careers

Related careers

Skills assessment

Take an assessment to learn more about your skills and the careers that might suit you.

Speak to an adviser

Call 0800 100 900 to speak to an adviser.

We're open:

  • 8am - 8pm Monday - Friday
  • 10am - 5pm Saturday and bank holidays

We're closed Sunday, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Webchat

You can also use webchat.

Webchat is unavailable if you are using Internet Explorer 11 as your browser. To use webchat, try opening this page on a different web browser.

Is this page useful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback.

Thank you for your feedback. Click here if you'd like to let us know how we can improve the service.