Q. What gets teachers out of bed?
A. £20k in your first year doing the most important job in the world
Everyone who's been to school knows that teaching is a challenging profession. After years of testing our teacher's patience with untucked shirts, unfinished homework and underwhelming grades, most of us will have wondered what on earth made them turn up for work every day. It is in fact a question most people rarely ask themselves, what makes someone want to teach?For a start things are changing in the world of teaching. Recent reforms give teachers better rewards, better career prospects and more opportunities to develop and update their skills and knowledge. These changes are reflected in the numbers of people going into teacher training. Over 31, 000 people are expected to start initial teacher training courses in England this year which represents a rise for the second year in succession and the highest number of trainees since 1994-5.
But it's not just better prospects that get teachers out of bed. Even though we took it for granted at the time, teachers like to teach. What other job can give you the opportunity to make a difference to so many young people's lives?
Teaching is now a challenging, rewarding profession with better prospects than ever before. It's also much better paid. Under the new salary scales for teachers in England and Wales, a good experienced classroom teacher can earn up to £31,000; a teacher in senior management role up to £36,800; an advanced skills teacher up to £44,600; and a head teacher up to £78,800. There are additional allowances of up to £3,000 for posts in London so a newly qualified teacher in inner London would start on £20,000 (the national basic is £17,000).
So, if you're interested - how do you start training and how is training funded?
If you are an eligible graduate entering teaching and live in England or Wales then you can apply for training bursaries of £6,000 per annum. Teachers of mathematics, science, modern foreign languages, English and design and technology or Welsh will also receive a £4,000 bonus at the start of the second-year as qualified teachers.
If you are unsure about which age group you would like to teach or whether life in the classroom would be suitable, you might find a taster course useful. These usually last around three days and are aimed at under-graduates and mature career changers. There are courses for different subjects and for primary and secondary teaching.
There are many different routes leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), the qualification necessary for teaching as a qualified teacher in a maintained school.
The route you choose will depend on your qualifications and experience and the range of training on offer is diverse and flexible.
Undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) is available throughout the country by full or part-time study. Some postgraduate programmes are available by distance learning or flexible study and you can also train while working in the classroom, although this requires an initial and on-going commitment from schools.
The postgraduate route is the most popular route for secondary teaching and is becoming increasingly popular for primary teaching.
You will need a degree or equivalent that gives you the necessary foundation for the subject and age range you want to teach. Entry requirements vary and you should check with the individual provider of ITT. Many ITT courses take one full academic year (38 weeks for primary, 36 weeks for secondary).
For those over 24 years old, employment based training offers the opportunity to earn a salary while you train. The Graduate Teaching Programme (GTP) is for those who already have a degree and schools receive £13,000 per person per year to meet the salary cost.
If you have taught in the past, and are considering a return to the profession there are refresher courses that offer bursaries and support with childcare while on the course.
Applications to all teacher-training courses are considered on their own merit against agreed and published selection criteria.
Graduates and career changers can now also use the Internet to apply for teacher training courses and track the progress of their applications online once they have submitted their form. This new service has been launched by the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) and the Training and Developmenty Agency for Schools (TDA) to help streamline applications for entry to the 2002 Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE). The website address for the new application system is www.gttr.ac.uk. Tracking is available for all methods of application, paper based or online.
Applicants can register on-line and then log in and out of the site, to complete the form at their own pace. The interactive service guides users through the application process, helping them to provide information accurately. This will help improve the efficiency of the system and ensure that universities and colleges receive the application forms more quickly.
