What qualifications do I need to be a teacher?
It is a major responsibility to educate children or young adults whom you would refer to as students. So, you cannot just get into teaching without preparing yourself first. In order to be a teacher in the UK, you need to have certain qualifications which are mentioned below-
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Eligibility to become a Teacher:
If you are planning to be a primary school teacher, you need to have GCSE grade 4 (C) or above in Mathematics, Science and English. In some cases, teacher training providers might accept an equivalency test or other qualification.
Some Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers prefer you to have a degree in a national curriculum subject for primary teaching. For secondary teaching, you must have a degree in the subject you are willing to teach.
To teach in the state schools of England and Wales in the primary, secondary and special schools, you need to obtain the QTS certificate (Qualified Teacher Status) by following a programme of ITT (Initial Teacher Training). Though some private schools accept teachers without QTS, it is best to have this qualification.
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Teacher Qualifications:
There are different routes to earn qualifications for becoming a teacher. For instance, those who want to be a primary school teacher, they should earn a Bachelors of Education (BEd) degree. A BEd is a three-year degree for teaching primary level children that includes Key Stages 1 and 2.
On the other hand, nursery teachers can get a job without a bachelor’s degree however; they should be certified to work with young children.
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Teacher Skills:
The prospective teachers should meet the required standards of literacy and numeracy skills which is ensured by the ITT providers. Each provider is supposed to assess the applicants during the selection process or when they are on the training programme. If trainees remain unable to meet the required level of literacy and numeracy skills, they will not obtain QTS.
Besides literacy and numeracy skills, teachers are expected to have the ability to programme and code computers. As reported by BBC, Prof Donaldson recommended computer programming and IT to become central to classroom teaching as literacy and numeracy and this recommendation has been accepted by the government. Teachers need to weave those into every lesson so they should hold a strong knowledge of computer science.
Good communication, organisation and leadership are the three other important skills of a good teacher. Being a teacher, it’s extremely important for you to have a good communication skill to convey lessons, provide feedback and discuss progress of students with their parents,
A good organisation skill helps teachers to keep track of students’ records of exams and assessments. Likewise, good leadership skills can help teachers in controlling the classroom environment, advising and monitoring extracurricular activities.
