Guide to Teaching Apprenticeships

So you’ve watched Dead Poets Society or School of Rock and decided you want to inspire the lives of the future generation?

Why wait? Teaching Assistant apprenticeships start at Level 3. This means that you just have to get your GCSEs and you’re in!

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding career. But, you have to put the work in. Teachers have to train hard to become fully qualified, not to mention have the patience of a saint.

Interested? Keep reading to find out more about how to become a teacher by choosing apprenticeships!

In a hurry? Skip to what you’re looking for…

• Will I have to go to university?

• Early Years Educator (Level 3)

• Teaching Assistant (Level 3)

• Teaching (Level 6)

• How to apply

• How much will I earn?

Will I have to go to university to become a teacher?

To become a fully qualified teacher, YES, you will have to go to university. You’ll need the following:

• A degree

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

• Initial Teacher Training (ITT)

However, there are other apprenticeships available in the education sector that do NOT require a degree. We’ve explained below…

Early Years Educator

Level 3
Duration: Typically 18 months

Early Years Educators play a key role in a child’s early development. They are highly trained and specialise in childcare from birth to 5 years old.

As an apprentice, you must also successfully complete the Level 3 Award in Paediatric First Aid. If you don’t already have Level 2 in Maths and English, you’ll need to get them before you can complete the programme.

Click here to see the full criteria for this role.

Teaching Assistant

Level 3
Duration: Typically 18 months

Teaching Assistants work in either Primary, Secondary or Special schools, teaching pupils of all ages. It’s their duty to create a safe environment for the pupil while supporting their education and mental health. Promoting self-belief and social inclusion is integral to ensuring a child’s well-being.

You’ll need to have at least an English and Maths Level 2 qualification to proceed with this apprenticeship. If not, you can work towards these qualifications alongside doing your apprenticeship.

So you’re hooked and you’re ready to apply, but how?

There are a couple of steps you’ll need to follow to apply for a teaching assistant apprenticeship. We’ve broken them down below:

First of all, you’ll need to find an employer and a vacancy. In this case, it will be a school. You can have a look online and see if any local schools are hiring.

Once you’ve found a vacancy at a school, you’ll have to fill out an online application form. These forms include the usual personal details you’ll find on a job application, including your educational history.

NOTE: The entry requirements for these schemes are as follows:

5 GCSE passes (grades 9 to 4) or equivalent This includes passes in English and maths

So considering the above, mention your English and maths grades on the form.

The last step is preparing for interviews… Trust us, it’s not as scary as it sounds. But you do have to be PREPARED. Read our handy blog on The Most Common Apprenticeship Interview Questions (and how to answer them) for some great tips!

If you’ve already got a degree and you want to move into teaching, an apprenticeship is a pathway to do just that…

Teaching

Level 6
Duration: Typically 12 months

We all know what a teacher is. We’ve all had teachers throughout our school journey. Good ones, bad ones, some that shout a lot, and some that never shout at all. From the age of three, all the way up to 18, we spend as much time with them as we do our parents.

A teacher’s first concern is the education of their students. It sounds obvious, but that is the role of a teacher - to help children and teenagers achieve their academic potential. To do this, all teachers need to have really good subject knowledge. They also have to keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date as the curriculum is always changing.

Your average week in this kind of apprenticeship would consist of 4 days ‘on-the-job’ training. This means, as an unqualified teacher, you will be teaching for four days of the week in two different schools. The remaining day will be for other activities such as planning lessons and shadowing other teachers.

There are THREE simple steps to applying for a teaching apprenticeship:

1. Find a vacancy at a university Not every university offers Level 6 apprenticeships. Use the find an apprenticeship search engine on the GOV website to see what’s available.

2. Apply, apply, apply! Once you’ve found the perfect vacancy and you’re ready to apply, you’ll need to start preparing for the application process. These typically involve things like:
   An online application form
   Literacy and numeracy testing
   A phone or video interview
   Either an assessment centre or a face-to-face interview

3. You’re a student (again!) If you’ve smashed your application, assessment centre and interview, you’re now ready to enrol at a university as a Level 6 student. And, teaching apprenticeships only tend to last a year, so you’ll be a qualified teacher in no time!

How much will I earn?

Your salary on a teaching apprenticeship will depend on the area and the school. The National Minimum Wage for an apprentice in the UK is currently £3.90 an hour (see the table below).

And, once you’re all finished, the average wage of a teacher is £37,500. With all that, you could bag yourself 46,875 pencils, 26,785 apples, 520 blackboards AND 468,750 sticks of chalk… or you could donate it all to The Donkey Sanctuary.