Secondary school teacher

High school teacher, sixth form teacher

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

Salary range: £24,373 to £40,490

How to become a secondary school teacher

You can get into this job through:

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

University

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

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 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 get into this career through a postgraduate 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 and experience

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 helping 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 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.

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

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

Day-to-day tasks

You will:

  • plan lessons and prepare teaching materials
  • set up the classroom, organise displays and resources
  • teach whole class lessons, work with small groups and do practical activities
  • direct the work of learning support and teaching assistants
  • mark and assess pupils’ work
  • provide a safe and healthy environment and follow safeguarding procedures
  • update records, take registers and write reports
  • talk to parents and carers about their children’s progress

You might also:

  • work with other professionals like education psychologists, careers advisers, counsellors and social workers
  • attend meetings and training
  • organise subject outings, after school clubs, exam revision classes or school social activities

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

You can take on extra responsibilities, such as supporting pupils with additional needs, departmental or careers leadership, or pastoral support. You may receive extra pay allowances to do this.

With experience, you could become a specialist leader of education, supporting teachers in other schools. You could also be a curriculum leader, head of year, deputy head or headteacher.

You can work for an exam board, a local education authority, in further education, or with a gallery or museum as an education officer. You can also work freelance as a private tutor.

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