Primary school teachers play an important part in the early stages of a child’s life, using their skills to help develop and educate. Early years teachers also have to act as parental figures to their young pupils, so it is essential for them to understand how to work with children and to take care of them.

Primary school teaching involves working with children aged between three and 11, teaching all subjects.

If you are interested in a primary school teaching career, it would be beneficial to become a volunteer or to try and get some work experience in your local primary school – observing and working alongside teachers could help you decide whether you’ve got what it takes to teach!

You need to gain specific qualifications to be a primary school teacher. First of all, you will need grade C or above in your English, maths and science GCSEs because a primary school teacher has to teach the basics of these subjects.

Bear in mind that if you plan to teach early years and primary school pupils you will need a degree from a UK university, such as a Bachelor of Education (BEd). You could study any subject at degree level but you would have to take a postgraduate course in order to teach – this is known as a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate of Education). This is simply a year-long teacher training course. To enrol onto one of these courses you will have to pass the professional skills tests (QTS Skills Tests) which focus on literacy and numeracy.

After gaining these qualifications you will be eligible for qualified teacher status (QTS), which allows you to work as a teacher in English or Welsh primary state schools and special educational needs schools. As part of the training for a QTS, trainees have to teach pupils in two different age ranges, as established by the Secretary of State’s Requirements for Initial Teacher Training e.g. ages 5-7 and 7-9. Once achieved, a QTS certificate will be issued by the National College for Teaching and Leadership or the General Teaching Council for Wales depending on where you registered for your QTS. You can find out more about getting into primary school teaching by visiting the government education page.

The final step is the induction period, which each QTS teacher has to pass. This is generally run during the first year of teaching in school and usually lasts a year.

By student contributor Bartek Zegota, The John Henry Newman School

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