These steps can help you to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS), which you need to teach in many primary and secondary schools in England.
You do not have to follow all the steps in order, and some might take longer than others. If you need support, a teacher training adviser can give you free practical advice and reassurance about all of these steps and more.
Non-UK citizens: additional steps
There are more steps to consider if you're a non-UK citizen.
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Check your qualifications
To train to teach, you’ll need to have GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above in English and maths (and science if you want to teach primary).
You also need a bachelor's degree in any subject to teach primary and secondary – if you have one or an equivalent qualification, you can do postgraduate teacher training.
If you do not have a degree, you can do undergraduate teacher training to get a bachelor's degree alongside qualified teacher status (QTS). Or you may be eligible to do a teacher degree apprenticeship (TDA).
Find out more about the qualifications you need to teach -
Understand funding
Undergraduate and postgraduate teacher training course fees are around £9,535 per year.
You can apply for tuition fee and maintenance loans, even if you already have a student loan.
If you're interested in teaching certain subjects, you might be able to get a tax-free bursary or scholarship of up to £31k to support you while you're training. This money does not have to be paid back.
Find out how to fund your training -
Consider getting experience
Experiencing life in a school can help you decide if teaching is right for you and who you want to teach. This is a good way to give you a taste of what the classroom is really like.
Learn more about getting classroom experience -
Find a postgraduate teacher training course
Through teacher training, you can get qualified teacher status (QTS) or QTS with a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE).
You need QTS to teach in most primary and secondary schools in England but you do not need a PGCE to teach. Explore the age groups and specialisms you could qualify to teach.
If you do not have a degree, explore undergraduate teacher training.
If you already have a degree, find out how to choose your postgraduate teacher training course.
If you're not sure which route into teaching is right for you, find routes into teaching based on your circumstances.
Find postgraduate teacher training courses -
Apply for teacher training
You can usually start applying for postgraduate training in October and undergraduate training in May, the calendar year before your course starts.
You can apply throughout the year, but some courses do fill up quickly.
Get tips on making a great application including finding the right references and writing a personal statement.
When you get offered a place on a course, your provider will arrange a background and criminal records check. This is known as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. You must pass these checks in order to teach students under 18.
Apply for postgraduate teacher training -
Start your teacher training
All postgraduate training involves classroom placements in at least 2 schools. Your training will also include some theoretical learning, which might be in a different location to your placements.
Most teacher training courses start in September, with a small number of courses starting on other dates throughout the year.
Full-time courses usually take 9 months and part-time courses take 18 to 24 months.
Undergraduate courses usually take 4 years.
Find out more about what postgraduate teacher training is like -
Apply for a teaching role
Some teacher training providers recommend you start thinking about job applications quite early in your teacher training year.
Schools start to advertise their vacancies from January.
Get help applying for teaching jobs -
Start your career
Congratulations – you're a qualified teacher!
Now that you’ve started your first teaching job, you’ll be an early career teacher (ECT) – this used to be called newly qualified teacher (NQT).
For your first 2 years as an early career teacher, you’ll receive a package of support to help you find your feet. You'll get this automatically if you work in a maintained school but lots of other schools provide this for ECTs too.
You’ll get a mentor to support you, boost your confidence and help you develop your teaching skills, including behaviour management and ways to adapt your teaching. This builds on your initial teacher training.
Find out more about support for early career teachers (ECT)
