General Mathematics Training

Life in Education: Overview

Most commonly, the education sector is associated with teachers (primary, secondary, adult, etc), however there are many other areas of employment under the education umbrella, such as business or language teaching for adults.

The strongest defining feature of this work is its variety. Involvement in administrative tasks is almost always a significant part of the work and the amount required varies from post to post.

Teaching assistants are taking on more roles of a teacher (although they still remain on a much lower salary). There may be an opportunity to gain further qualifications while working as a teaching assistant.

There are also many opportunities outside of normal schooling hours. After school clubs give more freedom and require fewer qualifications.

In every case, people skills are essential. Even if you are working more towards education administration, you will need to have an understanding mind for people and be willing to help others achieve their highest potential.

Expected Salary

• £20,000 for NQT (Newly Qualified Teachers)
• £35,000 with experience
• £40,000+ dependant on skills and regional demand.

Training

In most instances, you must have a degree in a relevant subject and GCSEs in English, Maths and Science (Grades A* - C).

Experience of working with children is essential, as is having good communication, planning and organisational skills.

The more experience you have the better. This may be either work experience, or assisting voluntarily in a local school (even an after school club). It is also a good idea to gain qualifications in health and safety, communication skills and computer literacy.

The normal minimum entry requirements are:

Postgraduate study is the route into teaching in schools for graduates without a bachelor's degree in education. To teach in state-maintained schools in England and Wales you must have qualified teacher status (QTS).

To attain QTS you must follow a 1-year postgraduate course and then spend an induction year working in a school as a newly qualified teacher (NQT). Scotland and Northern Ireland have slightly different systems. There are still postgraduate routes available but not work-based schemes. You will need to use one of the routes below:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
• School-centred initial teacher training (SCITT)
• Graduate or registered teacher programmes (GTP and RTP)

Underoak lists many short courses to aid you in your career progression. These may be funded individually or through your company (please check the prices with the trainer, as sometimes they often offer a lower price for self funded training). To search these courses, simply type the relevant key words and click on ‘request further information’ to send your enquiry direct to the trainer.

Click here for Education courses

Related Careers

Once in education, the route is normally relatively straightforward. Most teachers will stay in their specialised subject. Some teachers become substitutes or take on additional subject areas to enhance their knowledge. Below are other options in education:

• Special educational needs teacher
• Community education officer
• Youth worker
• Education administrator
• Learning mentor
• Careers adviser/personal adviser (careers)
• Social worker
• Training and development officer/manager
• Educational psychologist
• English as a foreign language teacher
• English as a second language teacher
• Music teacher, private/peripatetic
• Teaching assistant
• Advisory teacher
• Environmental education officer
• Prison instructor/tutor

Useful Links

Talking Teaching

Resources for Teachers

Core Skills

These include:

• Communication skills - presenting oral and written arguments
• Project management
• Self sufficiency
• Computer literacy
• Conflict management
• Interpersonal skills
• People management
• Team building
• Information, communication and technology skills (ICT) - including word processing, databases, internet communications, information retrieval and online research
• Numeracy skills - interpreting and presenting relevant numerical information
• Working with others - as a result of developing interpersonal skills, planning skills and teamwork
• Self-management skills - reflecting on, managing and planning your own time, learning and performance
• Analytical skills - being able to analyse, synthesise, evaluate and identify problems and solutions

Average working hours per week

Job Spotlight

Education Administrator

The Role
Education administrators organise and manage the administration, support systems and activities of an education institution. Most are based in higher or further education (HE or FE), with more opportunities arising in schools and private colleges.

Tasks may include:

• Servicing committees
• Assisting with recruitment, public relations and marketing activities
• Administering student life – admission to graduation
• Administrative support to lecturers, tutors and teachers
• Dealing with queries and complaints procedures
• Coordinating examination and assessment processes
• Course evaluation and course approval procedures
• Preparing reports and statistics
• Developing future information systems
• Contributing to policy and planning
• Managing budgets
• Purchasing goods and equipment
• Supervising staff
• Organising and facilitating a variety of educational or social activities

Salary:
£18,000 - £26,000 dependent upon sector and location

Experience:
You will be expected to be trained to degree level if working in administration for the educational department. However, this does not necessarily need to be a degree in a related field.

Underoak lists many short courses to aid you in your career progression. These may be funded individually or through your company (please check the prices with the trainer, as sometimes they often offer a lower price for self funded training). To search these courses, simply type the relevant key words and click on ‘request further information’ to send your enquiry direct to the trainer.

Click here for Education Courses

Career Development

Teachers are actively encouraged to partake in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). As a teacher, it is easy to progress into management roles, which involve different proportions of classroom time and responsibilities. Positions can include:

• Head of Department
• Head of Sixth Form
• Head of Year
• Deputy Head

Self Employment

The opportunities for self employment in the education sector are very small. Good marketing strategy and excellent networking skills are essential in the first instance. The main opportunities for self-employment are as a private tutor.

Schools may employ an artist or an author to work in the school on a temporary basis for the duration of a project, which might be a term or a few weeks. It is worth contacting individual schools about such opportunities. In these instances, extra skills will be an added bonus.

Working Overseas

There are vacancies in language schools and mainstream schools in China, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as Poland, Spain and France. South America is becoming increasingly popular with students.

Whilst the main skills needed are speaking English and being able to communicate and convey your knowledge, a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification is recommended before applying. Some countries will not allow a visa application without a TEFL qualification.