What are my chances for landing a teaching job in the UK?
February 2, 2011 7:25 PM Subscribe
What are my chances for landing a teaching job in the UK if I have a related BA but little experience?
I am a US citizen. My partner is a British citizen currently living in the US. We would like to move to England within the next 2-5 years, depending on how quickly he can find a job in his field. We'll be applying as domestic partners, so I shouldn't need sponsorship.
I earned my BA in English Education (5-12) in 2001 but life circumstances have kept me working in customer service & tech support. I'm working on getting my certificate in Michigan, finally, but I haven't had much paid teaching experience yet. Ideally, I'll get a job teaching in the next year so I can put that experience on my CV.
I'd be happy to get work with an agency as a supply teacher until I can find a permanent placement. How likely is that to happen with a popular BA and (at least for now) little experience? What can I do now that might improve my chances?
I am a US citizen. My partner is a British citizen currently living in the US. We would like to move to England within the next 2-5 years, depending on how quickly he can find a job in his field. We'll be applying as domestic partners, so I shouldn't need sponsorship.
I earned my BA in English Education (5-12) in 2001 but life circumstances have kept me working in customer service & tech support. I'm working on getting my certificate in Michigan, finally, but I haven't had much paid teaching experience yet. Ideally, I'll get a job teaching in the next year so I can put that experience on my CV.
I'd be happy to get work with an agency as a supply teacher until I can find a permanent placement. How likely is that to happen with a popular BA and (at least for now) little experience? What can I do now that might improve my chances?
You should also look to do a Post Graduate Certificate in Education.
Link
posted by dougrayrankin at 2:14 AM on February 3, 2011
Link
posted by dougrayrankin at 2:14 AM on February 3, 2011
As I understand it, you need a PGCE or teacher training to teach in state schools. Independent schools can employ whomever they want, so that might be a simpler option.
posted by richb at 2:37 AM on February 3, 2011
posted by richb at 2:37 AM on February 3, 2011
The UK route to teaching goes in one of two main ways. Either you take a degree (3 or 4 years) that specifically qualifies you to teach, or you take a degree in pretty much any subject, then go on an additional one-year PGCE course to gain a qualification necessary to teach in state schools (as richb and dougrayrankin mentioned). In some cases a degree isn't required for a PGCE - for example, where there are professional skills or qualifications that indicate that you have the required expertise in your chosen subject area - but I'm not sure that this applies to primary education.
Whether your background qualifies you to teach in the UK is something you probably need to discuss with the TDA.
A PGCE is either in primary education (3+ to 12) or is in a particular subject area in secondary education (12 to 16/18). The course is (or was when I did it) about 50% theory and 50% observing and teaching in schools. I spent around 3 months in total in full-time teaching as part of the course. It's not a particularly demanding course - only one person on my course failed, but it does keep you busy for about 9 months.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:22 AM on February 3, 2011
Whether your background qualifies you to teach in the UK is something you probably need to discuss with the TDA.
A PGCE is either in primary education (3+ to 12) or is in a particular subject area in secondary education (12 to 16/18). The course is (or was when I did it) about 50% theory and 50% observing and teaching in schools. I spent around 3 months in total in full-time teaching as part of the course. It's not a particularly demanding course - only one person on my course failed, but it does keep you busy for about 9 months.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:22 AM on February 3, 2011
If your BA means that you're a qualified teacher in the US (if it grants you what's known here as QTS - Qualified Teacher Status), it would be worth asking whether your qualification is valid over here. If it isn't, you have the options outlined above, and another possibility is also the Graduate Teacher Programme.
If your BA doesn't count as a UK teaching qualification, another possibility is to look at the private sector (as richb says), as the teacher qualification regulations only apply to the state sector. But I have the impression that private sector jobs can be quite hard to get unless you've come straight from a prestigious university.
posted by altolinguistic at 4:42 AM on February 3, 2011
If your BA doesn't count as a UK teaching qualification, another possibility is to look at the private sector (as richb says), as the teacher qualification regulations only apply to the state sector. But I have the impression that private sector jobs can be quite hard to get unless you've come straight from a prestigious university.
posted by altolinguistic at 4:42 AM on February 3, 2011
1.) From what I've heard I don't think the job-market is very good right now for teachers. A few years ago there was a big recruitment drive to get more people (those entering university for the first time and those with other degrees/experience) to go into teaching with a lot of financial incentives. Recruiters swore there would be a very good chance for anyone finishing a teaching degree (3/4-year or the 1-year PGCE) to get a job at one of the schools they trained in. Then the recession hit and there was a lot of competition among the unemployed for these sorts of subsidized retraining spots. Teachers and recent graduates I have come into contact with in the past couple years have reported that it is difficult to find any positions available even at the outskirts of their acceptable commuting zones. However, there is a lot of turnover in good times.
2.) If you do need to acquire any additional qualifications in the UK like a PGCE, you will almost certainly need to pay international student fees and not qualify for any financial incentives (scholarship or first-year-signing-bonus) unless you can do a lot of legwork to find a loophole and a sympathetic person with the power to bend the rules. And right now the government is cutting back funding on nearly everything. You should qualify for funding after a specific number of years as a permanent resident (prob 2-3 years after a 2 year probationary period of residing in the UK).
3.) Teachers are not that well paid. I took a 5 minute look comparing the UK to one (lowly ranked) US state and from what I remember a teacher in the UK will start on a higher salary but the regular increases hit a rather low ceiling (unless they moved up into admin). In this particular US state the starting salary was lower but could potentially rise quite high if a person stuck with it (without moving into admin).
posted by K.P. at 6:53 AM on February 3, 2011
2.) If you do need to acquire any additional qualifications in the UK like a PGCE, you will almost certainly need to pay international student fees and not qualify for any financial incentives (scholarship or first-year-signing-bonus) unless you can do a lot of legwork to find a loophole and a sympathetic person with the power to bend the rules. And right now the government is cutting back funding on nearly everything. You should qualify for funding after a specific number of years as a permanent resident (prob 2-3 years after a 2 year probationary period of residing in the UK).
3.) Teachers are not that well paid. I took a 5 minute look comparing the UK to one (lowly ranked) US state and from what I remember a teacher in the UK will start on a higher salary but the regular increases hit a rather low ceiling (unless they moved up into admin). In this particular US state the starting salary was lower but could potentially rise quite high if a person stuck with it (without moving into admin).
posted by K.P. at 6:53 AM on February 3, 2011
Response by poster: Thank you for all of your answers!
I would like to start working as soon as possible, and it would seem that indefinite leave to remain is at least a possiblity due to the length of our relationship. Hopefully that means a work permit will not take long to acquire. I'm happy to take a job outside of my field as long as it pays the bills. It looks like I can take the additional training while still holding a paying job, so that's good.
I'm considering working with a placement agency to increase my chances of gaining employment as well as successfully navigating the hoops of QTS. If you know of any good ones in particular, please do let me know.
posted by custardfairy at 10:03 AM on February 3, 2011
I would like to start working as soon as possible, and it would seem that indefinite leave to remain is at least a possiblity due to the length of our relationship. Hopefully that means a work permit will not take long to acquire. I'm happy to take a job outside of my field as long as it pays the bills. It looks like I can take the additional training while still holding a paying job, so that's good.
I'm considering working with a placement agency to increase my chances of gaining employment as well as successfully navigating the hoops of QTS. If you know of any good ones in particular, please do let me know.
posted by custardfairy at 10:03 AM on February 3, 2011
If you want to teach and you need a job while you make that happen, it's quite likely you'd be able to get Teaching Assistant or tutoring jobs. They are very poorly paid, but can be quite rewarding. A lot of people get them on a temporary basis through agencies before going on teacher training. I'm not sure I know of any good agencies - I have a couple friends who got work through them but I didn't get the impression the agency was particularly stellar in either case.
posted by Acheman at 3:14 PM on February 3, 2011
posted by Acheman at 3:14 PM on February 3, 2011
For what it's worth the UK govt want to move teacher training more into schools, and there may be cuts in things like PGCE courses.
Given your time frame is several years from now, some changes may have kicked in by then.
posted by philipy at 4:27 PM on February 4, 2011
Given your time frame is several years from now, some changes may have kicked in by then.
posted by philipy at 4:27 PM on February 4, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lollusc at 7:40 PM on February 2, 2011 [1 favorite]