Q&A: Becoming a teacher

I want to become a teacher but don't know what training I need.

I really want to become a teacher but don't know how. Do I need to go to university to get a teaching degree, or could I do it another way and work my way up?

In order to become a teacher you will need to complete Initial Teacher Training (ITT), but there are lots of ways to do this training. The route you take will depend on your GCSE and A-levels results, the type of training you feel would suit you best and whether you would like to become a primary school teacher or secondary school teacher.

If you'd like to become a primary school teacher you firstly need to get A-C grades in GCSE (or equivalent qualifications) Maths, Science and English. All primary school teaching courses expect this. You'll also need to do A-levels (or equivalent qualifications). If you are choosing A-levels with a view to primary school teaching it's useful to choose national curriculum subjects because you'll be teaching these subjects in a primary school environment. Different universities and degree courses will have different entry requirements in terms of A-level and GCSE grades, some will expect you to get higher grades than others. You can find out the entry requirements of different courses by searching on the UCAS website.

The next stage of ITT is to do a degree and an accreditation called Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). There are three ways of getting these qualifications:

• You could consider doing an undergraduate degree with QTS built into it. Some universities run 'education' degrees with QTS status as part of this degree. Others run degrees that also allow you to focus on specific subjects – for example Physical Education with QTS. You can search for these degrees using the UCAS website.
• Another option is to take a first degree (it would be a good idea to do this in a national curriculum subject as well) and then to apply to take a postgraduate qualification called a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Primary Education. This postgraduate qualification takes a year and would give you QTS.
• Alternatively, you could consider training on the job. This would involve doing an undergraduate degree and then applying to a training programme called Teach First. On this programme you would do six weeks of training and then take part in regular further training on the job. After two years you would achieve QTS. This programme has been running in secondary schools for a while but has recently been extended to allow primary school teachers to train this way too.

In order to teach in secondary school, you usually need a degree in the subject that you are hoping to teach in – or one in a very similar subject. After your first degree you would need to either take a PGCE in Secondary Education or you could apply for a Teach First programme working in secondary schools.

Because there are a variety of ways to get into both primary and secondary teaching you might find this simple tool for planning your route into teaching useful. If you'd like to talk all this through with an advisor, so you're totally clear on your options you can call the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) on 0845 6000 991, or 0845 6000 992 (for Welsh speakers).

Finally, if you decide that you would prefer not to go to university at all, you could consider working as a teaching assistant or in another learner support role. These roles enable you to work in a classroom environment, supporting a class teacher and you can train for these roles without attending university, usually on the job.