WHAT YOU WILL NEED

GCSEs 

You must have at least:

• Grade C/4 or equivalent in GCSE English and Mathematics or a recognised equivalent qualification (ENIC proof of equivalence*)
• For primary teaching, you’ll also need a grade C/4 in one GCSE science subject or a recognised equivalent qualification (with ENIC proof of equivalence*)

You must be able to produce original certificates or documentation to support the qualifications above.

DEGREE 

You must hold an undergraduate bachelor's (Hons) degree with a 2:2 or higher. (We will consider 3rd class degrees on case-by-case basis)

To teach at primary level you can hold a degree in any subject. However, for secondary education, you are required to have a strong understanding of the subject you intend to teach, which can be demonstrated by either having a degree in the subject,  degree related to the subject (e.g. an engineering degree if you want to teach physics) or an unrelated degree coupled with a relevant postgraduate qualification or professional experience

If you are applying from overseas, we will check your qualifications against the regulations that the Department of Education sets for entry into the profession. Your degree will have to be equivalent to a UK bachelor's (Hons) degree and secondary qualifications equivalent to GCSEs and A Levels. 

We require an ENIC statement of comparability for all overseas qualifications. This compares overseas qualifications to the UK education system, comparing them to UK qualifications and framework levels.  

To train as a teacher in England, you must be a British or Irish citizen, have the right to work in the UK, or hold a relevant visa. You will need to demonstrate your existing right to work in the UK by showing us your documentation, as we are unable to sponsor visas. If you are awaiting your visa, you can still submit your application, and it will be placed on hold until your visa is granted.

 Your personal statement explains why you want to be a teacher. It’s a crucial part of your application so it’s worth taking your time on it.

Find out more about writing your teacher training personal statement.

You need to provide the details of 2 people who can give you a reference when you apply. They will not be contacted until you accept a place on a course.  

There are 4 types of references you can provide:

• academic 
• professional 
• school experience 
• character

If you’re still studying or graduated in the last 5 years, one of your references should be an academic reference (your second reference can be any of the other 4 types).

If you already work in a school, one of your references should be from your headteacher (your second reference can be any of the other 4 types).

If you graduated more than 5 years ago and do not work in a school, you can choose any combination of references.

Make sure you provide a professional email address, not a personal email address for each reference.

Further details can be found on the Get into Teaching website

You should enter all the jobs you’ve had since you left school. Make sure you explain any gaps longer than a month.  If you do not have any work history (for example, if you’ve always been in full-time education, or you’ve been caring for a family member), you can mention that here.

You can also talk about any unpaid experience you have and how this supports your application to become a teacher. 

We will discuss in your interview if you will need to complete an Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course before you start your training. This is funded by the Government and is available in 5 subjects: chemistry, computing, languages, mathematics, and physics. You would complete a SKE course before your teacher training to improve your subject knowledge. We may make this a requirement of accepting you on the course if:

• You finished your degree more than five years ago.
• Your degree is in a different but related field to the subject you want to teach but is not the exact subject or course.
• You have an A level in the subject you want to teach, but not a degree.
• Your degree is in a different field, but you have relevant work experience.
• You studied languages at university, but you need to improve your knowledge in either your main language, your second language, or both to be able to teach them well in schools.

If you are offered a place on a course, your provider will arrange a background and criminal records check. This is known as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. You must pass these checks in order to teach students under 18.