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Secondary school teacher

Alternative titles for this job include High school teacher, sixth form teacher

Secondary school teachers teach children from 11 to 16, or up to 19 in schools with sixth forms.

Average salary (a year)

£28,000 Starter

to

£43,685 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

37 to 45 term time

You could work

evenings attending events or appointments

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become a secondary school teacher

You can get into this job through:

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

University

Undergraduate degree

You can do an undergraduate degree that leads to qualified teacher status (QTS), for example:

  • Bachelor of Education (BEd)
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA) with QTS
  • Bachelor of Science (BSc) with QTS

Postgraduate certificate

If you already have a bachelor's degree without qualified teacher status, you can complete a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). This can be done at university or through a training programme based in a school.

More teacher training options

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

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course

More Information

Apprenticeship

You can do a degree level teaching apprenticeship if you have a degree and want to teach in a secondary school.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths
  • a degree for a teaching apprenticeship

More Information

Work

You could start as a teaching assistant or learning mentor and do a part time degree. You could then move onto a postgraduate teaching course to qualify as a teacher.

Volunteering

You'll find it helpful to get some experience of working with young people, though this is not essential. 

You could volunteer at a school, do youth work or work on a holiday scheme.

More Information

Registration

Career tips

You can do a subject knowledge enhancement course to improve your understanding of the subject you want to teach.

You can also attend a Get Into Teaching event before you apply to get advice about teaching, funding and the different training routes available. You can attend events in person and online.

Further information

You can discover 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
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
  • leadership skills
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • maths knowledge
  • administration skills
  • 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

In this role you could:

  • prepare teaching materials, set up the classroom and organise displays
  • plan and teach lessons and work with small groups of students
  • mark work and talk to parents and carers about their children's progress
  • manage the work of teaching assistants
  • follow safeguarding procedures and work with careers advisers, counsellors, education psychologists and social workers
  • organise trips, after school clubs or exam revision classes
  • work and attend meetings and training outside of usual working hours

Working environment

You could work at a school, at a college, at a pupil referral unit or at a special needs school.

Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

With experience you could:

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a secondary school teacher right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Access to HE Diploma: Teaching

  • Provider: UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
  • Start date: 05 September 2023
  • Location: Derby

Access to HE Diploma (Teaching)

  • Provider: RIVERSIDE COLLEGE
  • Start date: 01 September 2023
  • Location: WIDNES
Find courses near you

Jobs In the United Kingdom

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Skills assessment

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Speak to an adviser

You can call 0800 100 900 or use webchat to speak to an adviser.

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  • 10am to 5pm Saturday and bank holidays

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

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