Teaching

Source: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/sectors/teaching/ Parent: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/career-ideas/podcast/

Teaching is a challenging but rewarding profession, with opportunities for graduates from all degree disciplines to work with different age groups in a range of settings from early years, to schools, colleges and higher education.

STEM subjects are particularly sought after.

For information on the wide range of roles in Education outside school teaching, please see the Education - general sector pages.

What you need to know

Find out about teaching

Find out about teaching

Key resources

• The Government's Get Into Teaching website
• Prospects: Teacher training and education
• TargetJobs: Teaching and education

Research the sector and keep up with current issues by:

• reading education newspapers eg the Times Educational Supplement (TES), particularly the New Teachers' section, Times Higher Education, Education Guardian, for news of changes and developments in the education sector, and their impact on schools, the curriculum and teacher training
• listening to our What do you actually do?podcast with J T Welsch, lecturer at the University, for an insight into the realities of teaching in higher education.

Information for teachers from outside the UK

Use of AI in teaching

The main uses of AI in schools so far are: creating lesson plans and educational resources, supporting personalised learning, and administrative tasks. AI can free up teachers’ time, but schools need to ensure they comply with regulations around data protection, child safety and intellectual property rights.

• GOV.UK Generative AI in education (updated Aug 2025)
• National Education Union: Use and abuse of artificial intelligence (Oct 2024)
• Oak National Academy has created new teaching tools using AI.

What skills do I need?

In addition to subject knowledge, you are likely to need:

• communication and interpersonal skills
• empathy, sensitivity
• planning, organisation
• listening, patience
• integrity
• motivational skills, commitment to children/young people
• resilience
• a passion for your subject.

Do you possess these skills and qualities? Can you demonstrate that you have them? Can you find ways to develop them? For more information about professional skills and how to develop them, see the York Strengths Professional Skills page.

Teacher training

There are various options for teacher training, and it is important that you investigate these carefully before making your application - would you prefer a university-led PGCE, or a more school-based programme? Both include study and classroom practice.

Apply for teacher training courses in England via the GOV.UK application service. Applications open on 8 October 2024 for 2025/26 courses. You can apply for up to four courses. If your first applications (Apply) are not successful, you can apply in a second round of applications (Apply Again).

• Find out more about ways to train on the Get into Teaching website
• GOV.UK advice on the use of AI in teacher training applications

You may also be interested in:

• teaching in Further Education
• Early Years teaching
• teaching in independent schools
• TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language - offers opportunities in the UK and overseas.  See more on our Working outside the UK page
• Information for teachers who trained outside the UK

The training provider will assure you have the fundamental English and Maths skills needed either at interview or during the training course, before awarding QTS. You will have to complete a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check through your course provider or school.

Teacher training and applications are slightly different in:

• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales.

Practice interviews on Shortlist.Me

• Teach First training programme
• Teaching practice interview
• several skills / competency / strengths based interviews you can use to practise
• Register for the interviews or activities using your York email address.

Funding your training

The Get into Teaching website outlines ways to train, costs and possible funding sources.

You may be able to apply for a tuition fee and maintenance loans from Student Finance England. Scholarships and bursaries are available for some subjects. Find out more about funding your training.

There are different arrangements for funding Initial Teacher Education or Training programmes in:

• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales

Work experience

• Classroom experience is essential for your teacher training application - apply for a classroom placement with the York Students in Schools programme
• Look for other opportunities with children/young people, eg play schemes, after-school clubs, Cubs, Guides, youth work, sports coaching, learning mentor, department outreach programmes. Check our volunteering pages for ideas, or York SU volunteering projects with children and young people
• Action Tutoring recruits volunteers in England, Scotland and Wales, to tutor online, giving extra support to disadvantaged pupils
• Get into Teaching suggests some ways to Get School Experience to help you see if teaching is right for you, including paid teaching internships for certain subjects
• Get teaching experience with an internship available for five subject areas (Chemistry, Computing, Languages, Maths and Physics)
• Oak National Academy has a blog and webinars, and video resources for pupils - a chance to see teachers in action (select subject and key stage), useful for if you have not been able to get much classroom experience
• If you are looking for school experience after graduation, with a view to applying for teacher training, recruitment agencies offer a variety of roles, eg Teaching Personnel, Yorkshire Education and others

Tutoring\ \ Tutoring, online or in person, can be a good way of sharing your subject knowledge, gaining teaching experience, and earning some extra money. Some tutoring opportunities are advertised by agencies in Handshake.  \ Careers and Placements advises that you check any tutoring opportunities carefully before entering into an agreement. Tutoring is often on a freelance or self-employed basis (rather than being employed by a company). High Speed Training has some good advice about setting up as a sole trader for tutoring. Note that international students on a student visa are not permitted to be self-employed. See also the advice on the Work while you study page.

Find jobs

Teaching jobs are advertised:

• weekly in the TES, TES online, Guardian and local press
• on council websites
• by recruitment and supply agencies
• FE jobs.

For teaching in different parts of the UK, check the registration information for:

• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales.

The recruitment process

The recruitment process is likely to include some or all of:

• application form and personal statement/covering letter
• formal interview
• lesson plans
• teaching a sample lesson
• scenarios
• presentations
• meeting with students.

Find more information on getting a teaching job from Prospects, and finding and applying for teaching jobs from TARGETjobs.

Visits to the school are often offered for candidates interested in applying - you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity to find out more about the school, get a feel for the working environment, and show your interest in the post.  Research as much as possible about the school (from Ofsted reports, the school website and newsletters).

It is usual to be offered a job on the day of the interview, and for unsuccessful candidates to receive feedback.

• What you might be asked at interview TES article (Jan 2025).

What can I do at York?

There are lots of things you can do right now, while at university, to help you develop the skills you'll need to succeed in teacher training and applying for teaching jobs.

• Gain essential classroom experience through the York Students in Schools programme
• Look for other opportunities with children/young people, eg play schemes, after-school clubs, Cubs, Guides, youth work, learning mentor, department outreach programmes. Check our volunteering pages for ideas, or York SU volunteering projects with children and young people
• Talk to teachers about their roles and responsibilities to make sure you fully understand the role of a teacher - what they see as positive parts of their jobs, what difficulties they experience etc.
• Join a student society and get involved - as well as having fun, you'll be developing skills such as teamwork, organisation, project management and more.
• Finalise referees for teacher training applications before the applications open
• Prepare your personal statement and if you need feedback, you can request this by messaging the Careers Information Team in Handshake
• If you are looking for school experience after graduation, with a view to applying for teacher training, education recruitment agencies offer a variety of roles, eg Teaching Personnel, Yorkshire Education and others.

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, blogs

Connect with York graduates

Join York for Life to connect with our global network of alumni. Start building your own network - find people from your course, look at different careers, ask questions and request a mentor.

Use LinkedIn to make connections, follow organisations of interest, and find out what York graduates are doing. Find out more about using LinkedIn and networking.

Podcasts

• Lecturing is the tip of the iceberg, with JT Welsch, lecturer at the University of York, for an insight into the realities of teaching in higher education. Part of our What do you actually do? podcast series.

Social media accounts

• There are numerous Twitter accounts and blogs by teachers, see this list of suggested education and teacher Twitter accounts, and a couple of examples:
• @WeAreTeachers
• @KyrstieStubbs TheTattooedHeadteacher
• @CensoredHead

Blogs

• Teacher toolkit
• Action hero teacher
• The tattooed headteacher - including several blogs from NQTs about teaching during the pandemic

Events

Look for events in Handshake in Semester 1, including sessions on teaching and applying for teacher training.