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Secondary school teacher

Also called High school teacher, sixth form teacher.

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

Potential salary
£34,000 starter to £53,000 experienced per year
Typical hours
37 to 45 term time. Working pattern: evenings attending events or appointments.
Career area
Education
Where they might work
You could work at a school, in a sixth form college, at a pupil referral unit or at a special needs school. Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
A typical task
prepare teaching materials, set up the classroom and organise displays
Subjects that may help
4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
Typical route
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.
Interest area used here
Helping and teaching

Career actions

What you might do

  • prepare teaching materials, set up the classroom and organise displays
  • plan and teach lessons and work with small groups of students
  • mark work and talk to parents and carers about their children's progress
  • manage the work of teaching assistants
  • follow safeguarding procedures
  • work with careers advisers, counsellors, education psychologists and social workers
More tasks (2)
  • organise trips, after school clubs or exam revision classes
  • work and attend meetings and training outside of usual working hours

Could this suit me?

Consider which of these skills and ways of working appeal to you.

  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • leadership skills
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • excellent verbal communication skills
More skills
  • maths knowledge
  • administration skills
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

Routes into this career

University route

  • 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.
  • If you already have a bachelor's degree without qualified teacher status, you can complete a postgraduate qualification like a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) to get QTS. This can be done at university or through a training programme based in a school.
  • You need QTS to teach in most primary and secondary schools in England but you do not need a PGCE to teach.
  • Find out more about QTS from Get Into Teaching.
  • You do not always need to have a degree in the subject you'd like to teach. Your teacher training organisation will decide whether you have the required skills and knowledge to teach the subject.
  • If your training organisation thinks you need to improve your subject knowledge, they will ask you to do a subject knowledge enhancement course.
  • Find out about the support available if you want to change to a career in teaching.

University courses that could lead to this career

These are course families, not published offers. A link does not mean the degree is sufficient on its own.

  • Biological sciences

    Alternative route. Biology can be a teaching subject. Qualified teacher status is additional.

  • Chemistry

    Alternative route. Chemistry can be a teaching subject. Teacher training is additional.

  • Drama and Theatre

    Alternative route. Drama teaching also needs qualified teacher status.

  • Education Studies

    Related, but not enough on its own. Secondary teaching usually needs a degree in a school subject plus teacher training, or a course that explicitly awards qualified teacher status.

  • English Language

    Alternative route. Teaching English also requires qualified teacher status.

  • English literature

    Common route. A common subject degree for English teaching. QTS is additional.

  • Geography

    Alternative route. Geography can be a teaching subject. Teacher training is additional.

  • History

    Common route. A common subject degree for history teaching. QTS is additional.

  • Linguistics

    Related, but not enough on its own. Teaching needs qualified teacher status as well as a relevant degree.

  • Mathematics

    Common route. Mathematics is a teaching subject. Qualified teacher status is additional.

  • Modern languages

    Common route. A language degree can lead to language teaching with QTS.

  • Music

    Related, but not enough on its own. Teaching music in a state school also needs qualified teacher status.

  • Physics

    Alternative route. Physics can be a teaching subject. Teacher training is additional.

  • Primary education

    Related, but not enough on its own. Secondary teaching usually needs a degree in the subject plus teacher training, not a primary education degree.

  • Psychology

    Alternative route. Psychology is not a national curriculum subject in the same way as biology. Teaching usually needs a curriculum subject and teacher training.

Explore university routes

Apprenticeship or vocational route

  • You may be able to apply to do an Undergraduate or Postgraduate Teacher Level 6 Apprenticeship.
  • The undergraduate option takes up to 4 years to complete. The postgraduate route takes around 1 year, with both leading to qualified teacher status (QTS).
  • You could start as a teaching assistant or learning mentor and do a part-time degree or an undergraduate teaching apprenticeship to gain qualified teacher status (QTS).
  • a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course
  • a degree for a postgraduate teaching apprenticeship

Other routes

  • You might find it helpful to get some experience of working with young people.
  • You could volunteer at a school, do youth work or work on a holiday scheme.
Career progression
  • With experience you could: become a special educational needs teacher, further education teacher or move into pastoral care; become a specialist leader of education and support teachers in other schools; be a curriculum leader, head of year, deputy head or headteacher; work for an exam board, a local education authority, or in a gallery or museum as an education officer; work freelance as a private tutor.
  • The Get Into Teaching website has more information on how to develop your career.

Registration and requirements

you'll usually need qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in a state school in England

pass enhanced background checks

Subjects that may help

Subject guidance

  • 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
  • GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths

Explore the science

Lessons

  • A further look

    What Is Ecology?

    Specification 5.11.

    Population, community, habitat and ecosystem are definitions a biology teacher might teach. The teacher profile does not say every teacher teaches ecology, and this is not a training requirement.

Practice

  • A further look

    Recall: Ecology

    Specification 5.11.

    The ecology deck rehearses habitat language a biology teacher might later use in class. It is not a teaching qualification.

Beyond the Classroom

  • A further look

    What Is Ecology?, Beyond the Classroom section

    Specification 5.11.

    The ecology enrichment keeps population, community and ecosystem apart in a real setting. A biology teacher might use that distinction. The page does not train teachers.

    Try this: A camera recorded one species. What else would you need before calling that an ecosystem?

What you could do next