If you are interested in becoming a teacher but do not want to work in schools then you might consider becoming a teacher in the Further Education sector, sometimes known as the Skills, or Lifelong Learning sector. Qualifications to teach in this sector are different to those for schools.
The FE sector
There are over 350 general FE and sixth form colleges, work-based training providers, adult and community learning providers and specialist colleges in the UK. There are also over 1000 private training providers, 200 public training providers and around 40 higher education institutions (HEIs) involved in FE teaching.
The FE sector has a broad range of students: students with learning difficulties and disabilities, ESOL groups, functional skills groups, those wanting to gain vocational skills or any level up to HE degree level. FE students can come from local schools, the community, large industries or local businesses. There is no upper age limit for an FE student – so you could teach anyone from the age of 14 to 19 or 14 to 99+.These are the biggest providers in the sector. They offer a range of academic, professional and vocational courses. Students come from a variety of backgrounds and range from 14 year olds to adult and mature students.
These provide courses for students aged 16 – 19. They offer largely academic courses, GCSEs and AS/A2, but also include some vocational programmes.
These institutions are often partly funded through local government to help meet local needs. They provide a wide range of accredited and non-accredited programmes of learning to a diverse cohort of adult learners.
Offender learning takes place in prisons and youth offender institutions. Many courses are designed to provide for the transition from custody to living and working in the community, with a focus on basic English, basic maths, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), and skills for employment. Other programmes include specific vocational and vocational qualifications.
Work based learning may take place in the workplace, but is also provided by a range of training organisations and often in partnership with further education colleges. Qualification requirements apply to training funded through the Education Funding Agency (EFA) or the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Qualifications are vocational and include apprenticeships.
Voluntary and charitable organisations (the third sector)
Many voluntary and charitable organisations provide learning opportunities, often with a focus on basic English, basic maths, ESOL and employability skills, but may include more specialist provision.
Routes into teaching
There are three main routes into teaching in FE. Two relate to those who don’t have a teaching qualification, while the third relates to those who already have a qualification but from outside the FE sector.
The pre-service route
The pre-service route involves following a course at a university, college, or with another training provider, to gain a teaching qualification. On the strength of this you then progress into employment in FE teaching.
The in-service route
On the in-service route you gain some work within FE as a teacher and train alongside this work, usually at a college of FE. The training for this is usually part-time.
Transferring between teaching/training areas
Holding a schools’ teaching qualification, a university teaching qualification or a professional training qualification means you can transfer to FE teaching and vice versa. You will have to complete some additional steps and maybe undertake additional qualifications, but these can be done in service.
Where can you train?
You can find a course on the Talent talent.ac.uk/courses web site. In addition, some courses are listed on the UCAS Teacher Training Web site. For some courses you will apply directly to the course provider, in other cases you will need to apply through UCAS.
Funding
