There are a lot of different roles in education, requiring different skills. Here we look at why you should consider a career in teaching and the skills you need to be a teacher, trainer or tutor.
Why work in teaching?
- Variety: The routine is constantly being broken up with sports days and school trips, celebrations, holidays and occasionally something completely unexpected. It’s an ideal career for people who don’t want to sit at a desk all day.
- Making a difference: A great teacher can be literally life-changing to children. Some teachers go into teaching because they loved their time at school and want to pass that on. For others, it’s the opposite – they felt let down by poor teaching and want to give other kids a better experience.
- Financial support while you train: With some in-demand subjects you can get bursaries that amount to a good salary while you train.
- Using your degree: Outside academia, teaching is one of the few careers where you get to make real use of everything you learned during your degree. While graduates in all subjects are welcome in city jobs, it’s only in teaching that you can pass on your enthusiasm for rock formations, Greek philosophers or right angle triangles.
- Decent salary: Teaching will never make you a millionaire, but if you excel and take on responsibility you can build up to a salary of £50,000 or even more.
- Some teachers are loud and energetic, others quiet and dedicated, and all can make a difference in their own way. You don’t have to fit the mould perfectly to be a great teacher. See education roles other than teaching.
Here are the top teaching skills:
