Routes into teaching

For most postgraduate teacher training courses, you will need a minimum of a 2:2 degree, normally GCSE English and Maths, plus other requirements such as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, so allow plenty of time to prepare your application.

Teacher training programmes vary slightly from provider to provider, but most will offer:

• 120 days of practical classroom experience in two schools
• Academic study, giving you the knowledge and understanding that you need to teach successfully
• Experienced professional mentoring and tutoring in classroom management
• Ongoing assessment of your teaching skills towards a final assessment against a set of teacher standards, which will lead to QTS

Some courses have an integrated PGCE element - but a QTS alone can be gained through different routes.

Not all ITT providers will offer all routes, so researching your providers is key.

• Non-salaried route: This is where you would be supernumerary to the timetable and would gradually take on teaching experience as your confidence grows, under the direction and support of an experience teacher. Typically, on this route have two placement schools. One from September to December and one from January to June.
• Salaried route: This is where a school directly employs you to teach from day one some classes and a small timetable and then you do your ITT course learning around this teaching commitment. You will receive a salary as an unqualified teacher while you train. Typically, on this route you spend most of your training at your employing school with a six-week placement in a contrasting school.
• Part time routes: Some providers offer a part-time training route in some courses and typically this spreads the one-year training over two years, allowing you to spend less time in school per week.
• Teaching Apprenticeship Route: A teacher apprenticeship is a nationally recognised, work-based route into teaching. It offers participants a postgraduate-level qualification without having to pay tuition fees, and the ability to earn while they learn.

A popular postgraduate academic qualification leading to QTS, the PGCE is a one-year course focused on developing your teaching skills and underpinning your knowledge. Available for primary and secondary, this complements the in-school experience that leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

In England and Wales, PGCEs are offered on all university-led courses and most school-led courses. To teach as a qualified teacher in England, you only need QTS, but you might find gaining a PGCE advantageous if you are considering teaching in Scotland or overseas. You will need to consult each Initial teacher training provider to see which routes offer the PGCE option and consider what is required if you opt into a PGCE and QTS based route.

Often the PGCE is an integral part of the Initial Teacher Training course, woven into your training which is happening at both school and provider level. At the of this route, you would be awarded both QTS and a PGCE if you successfully passed both aspects of the course.

Make sure your qualification will allow you to teach in schools by choosing an undergraduate course that includes qualified teacher status (QTS). There are full-time programmes, which take three to four years, or part-time courses, which will take longer to complete. This links your degree course, buts ends up with a QTS qualification too. This is a popular route into primary school teaching and can include the option of a subject specialism, such as maths. Some Secondary teacher training courses would have a specialism such as PE with QTS.

Degrees with opt-in QTS are available in certain subjects such as modern foreign languages, computing and physics. Applications are generally made through UCAS for this route, as you would for a normal university place.

If your degree subject does not link closely to the subject you intend to teach at secondary level, you can take a subject knowledge enhancement course in preparation for the start of your ITT course for some subjects. Local providers can help you with this process, once you have decided who to train with and been successful in gaining a place with them.