Skip to content

Education

Further education teacher

Further education (FE) teachers teach academic and vocational or work related courses to young people and adults.

Annual Salary

£24,000 to £40,000

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

You could work: days / nights / weekends; flexibly

4.3%
Future employment

There will be 4.3% more Further education teacher jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

In this role you could:

  • teach students of different ages, abilities and backgrounds
  • develop learning plans, provide feedback to learners and prepare them for assessments
  • plan and teach classes or practical workshops, using technology where needed
  • support students and refer them to other services, such as careers advisers or counsellors
  • complete admin, like taking registers and ordering resources
  • follow safeguarding and health and safety procedures

Find out more about what it's like to work in further education.

Working environment

You may need to wear safety clothing and use safety equipment.

You could work at a college, in a sixth form college, an independent training centre, in a prison or at an adult education centre.

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role
  • applying directly
University

You could do a further education (FE) teaching qualification, although this is not essential.

Qualifications you could do include:

  • Certificate in Education (Cert Ed)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education and Training
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Further Education and Training

To teach an academic qualification like an A level, you'll usually need a degree in the subject.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study
For more information
College

You could do a teaching qualification at college.

Qualifications include:

  • Certificate in Education (Cert Ed)
  • Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training
  • Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training with a specialist pathway for teaching literacy, numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), or teaching disabled learners

Employers will also expect you to have experience or a qualification in the subject you want to teach.

Entry requirements

You'll need:

  • GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • 1 or 2 A levels, a level 3 diploma or relevant experience for a level 4 or level 5 course
For more information
Apprenticeship

You could do a Learning and Skills Teacher Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship.

You'll usually need:a qualification in the subject you want to teach; up to date experience in your industry; ability in English, maths and IT

For more information
Work

You could apply directly to work as a further education teacher if you have knowledge of your subject and experience in your industry. Some employers may want you to have a level 3 qualification in your industry.

You can then do a teaching qualification on the job. Some employers might help fund your training.

You'll also need level 2 maths and English skills. If you do not have these qualifications, the training provider might support you with this as part of your training.

Volunteering and work experience

It will be useful to get experience through paid work or volunteering at a school or college.

You can get help with finding:

Direct application

You can apply directly to work in further education if you have relevant experience, knowledge and skills in a technical or academic subject.

You can also apply directly to teach some subjects in further education if you have taught in a school and hold qualified teacher status (QTS).

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

You might be able to become a further education teacher without a teaching qualification. Your employer might choose what teaching qualification you'll need once you've started.

You can also get qualified teacher learning and skills status while you work if you have a level 5 teaching qualification or above.

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a further education teacher from Teach in Further Education.

Showing jobs in:
View all vacancies in this region

With experience you could:become a senior further education teacher, head of department or education programme co-ordinator; become a training assessor or examiner; write textbooks or online education resources

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • to be flexible and open to change
  • the ability to work well with others
  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • knowledge of English language
  • the ability to teach pupils how to do something
  • the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • to enjoy working with other people
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
My top 5 skills
Please sign in to compare your skills to this job. Sign in

To save or view your choices and results you must sign in or register (takes 1 minute).

Sign in Register