A teacher training personal statement is a professional document that you’ll submit as part of your postgraduate teacher training application.
Your personal statement is your chance to make yourself memorable with teacher training providers.
You can use it to show:
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why you want to teach
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why you’ll make a great teacher
How to write your teacher training personal statement
Teacher training personal statements can be up to 1000 words. Writing 800 words or more will allow you to go into more detail about why you want to become a teacher.
Your personal statement is your chance to make a good first impression with providers. Checking your spelling and grammar will show your attention to detail and that you care about your application.
What to include in your personal statement
You can include any information you think is relevant to demonstrate your knowledge and experience.
As well as showing your passion for teaching, your statement should include:
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evidence of research and understanding of the role of a teacher and the national curriculum
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relevant experience, especially if you’ve worked with young people before
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transferable skills and how you can bring these skills into the classroom
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why you want to teach your chosen subject and examples of how you’ll do this
Using AI to help write a personal statement
You should not rely on ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence (AI) tools to write your personal statement for you. AI tools use bland language and produce generic results which will not make your statement personal to you.
AI tools are useful for structuring a personal statement or for giving you ideas for what to include. But being overly reliant on AI tools to write your personal statement may result in your application being unsuccessful.
Your account to apply for teacher training may be blocked if you consistently submit personal statements that look like they have been written solely by AI tools.
Tailoring your personal statement
You can use the same personal statement for every course you apply for. There may be some instances where you’d like to tailor it to different courses.
You can use your personal statement to explain why you feel passionate about teaching a specific age range or subject. You might also want to include why you want to do your teaching training with a particular provider.
If you’re applying for a primary course with a subject specialism, or you’re particularly interested in certain primary subjects, you can include that in your statement.
If you’re not sure if you want to teach primary or secondary, you can find out more about teaching different age groups.
Get help with your personal statement
Writing a personal statement can feel daunting, but our teacher training advisers can help.
Advisers can support you with:
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what to include in your statement
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how to structure your statement so you can write it in manageable sections
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developing your own voice in your statement
Provided they have a good overall application and the right qualifications, most candidates who come to us for help with their personal statement will go on to get an interview.
You can get help with your personal statement from our teacher training advisers. They have years of teaching experience and can give you free, one-to-one support by phone, text, or email.
Advisers can also help you understand more about what teaching is really like, which can help improve your application.
Find out more about how teacher training advisers can help you with your personal statement.
Having a teacher training adviser was really beneficial when editing my personal statement and preparing for interviews. My top tips for the application process would be to get an adviser, and to think about what transferrable skills you have when writing your personal statement and answering interview questions.
Get school experience
You do not need school experience to apply for teacher training, but it can help strengthen your personal statement.
Getting some school experience can also be a good way to make sure teaching is right for you before you apply for a course.
Find out how you could get school experience
Start your application
Create an account and start your application for a teacher training course.
Get free one-to-one support
An adviser with years of teaching experience can help you with your personal statement. Chat by phone, text or email, as little or as often as you need.
Find out more about advisers