Working as a Teacher is one of the most rewarding and engaging job roles you can find. If you think you’ve got what it takes to become an inspiring Teacher who can transform the lives of our future generations, there are a few different routes on the path to becoming a qualified Teacher in a state school.
In our latest insights piece, we outline the three most popular pathways on how to get into teaching.
How to get into teaching
Becoming a Teacher can be a challenging process that requires a significant amount of dedication, preparation, ongoing learning and timing your teaching application correctly.
To become a Teacher, you typically need to complete a formal education program that includes coursework in education theory, instructional methods, classroom management, and subject-specific content knowledge.
In addition to the academic requirements, being a successful Teacher also requires a range of skills and qualities, including effective communication, patience, creativity, flexibility, and the ability to work with diverse groups of learners. Teaching can be a demanding and stressful profession, and requires a great deal of time, energy, and emotional investment.
However, for many people, the rewards of teaching far outweigh the challenges. Teachers have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of their students, to help shape the future of society, and to continuously learn and grow in their own professional development.
In addition to the pathways outlined in this blog, you will also be required to complete Initial Teacher Training (ITT) which will grant you Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
- PGCE
- Bachelor of Education (BEd)
- School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT)
PGCE
The PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) route is one of the most popular pathways to becoming a Teacher and it can provide you with the flexibility to teach internationally. A PGCE provides the student with a better understanding of teaching practices, educational research and theory. This course typically takes 1 year to complete on a full time basis or 2 years on a part time basis but the course can only be joined after an individual has already graduated with an academic degree.
Bachelor of Education (BEd)
A Bachelor of Education (also known as BEd) is an undergraduate professional degree combined with ITT. The course typically takes 3-4 years to complete on a full time basis or 4-6 years on a part time basis. During a BEd degree, students will explore the different settings where learning takes place and the processes that underpin it. In the latter years of the course, students will gain practical first hand experience of working within a classroom through placements.
School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT)
Another extremely popular postgraduate route to becoming a teacher is through SCITT. SCITT programmes are school or college-led teacher training courses which lead to QTS. The course typically takes 1 year to complete and during the course, students will get hands-on teaching experience in a minimum of two schools.
The main difference between SCITT and a PGCE is that a PGCE slowly eases its students into becoming a teacher with more lectures and seminar-based learning in the earlier stages of the course.
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