Steps to become a teacher

Get school experience or attend events to see which of the following settings suits you best:

• primary (ages 5 to 11)
• secondary (ages 11 to 18)
• early years (children up to the age of 5)
• further education (for example, teaching at further education colleges or sixth form colleges)

Follow these steps if you want to teach primary or secondary, including teaching disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs in these settings.

If you’re currently doing an undergraduate degree and are interested in teaching maths, physics, computing or modern languages, you could apply for a paid teaching internship. This gives you 3 weeks paid experience to show you what it’s like to be in a classroom.

Once you have a degree or equivalent qualification you’re ready for postgraduate primary or secondary initial teacher training courses.

You also need the following GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above, or equivalent qualifications:

• English
• maths
• science if you want to teach primary

You may be able to show you meet the standard in another way if you do not have GCSEs.

For advice on qualifications, chat to our teacher training experts online. They're available Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 5:30pm.

Find out what to do if you’re an international candidate with qualifications from overseas.

If you're not already studying for a degree and you do not have one you can do undergraduate teacher training.

Or, you can teach in further education without a degree.

You can get funding that you do not have to pay back if you train to teach certain subjects.

You can also apply for a student loan to cover course fees and living costs.

Find out what funding you can get

Explore your options, find out how to train to teach primary or secondary (for example a PGCE or directly in a school).

You can get support training to teach if you're disabled.

Search for teacher training courses.(opens in new window).

Get a teacher training adviser for help finding training

Get tips on applying, including finding the right referees and writing a teacher training personal statement.

Your teacher training adviser can also help you get your application ready and explore your options.

When you're ready, you can start your application for teacher training(opens in new window).

Get tips on applying