Initial Teacher Training and QTS Skills Tests
There are a number of routes into primary and secondary teaching . In order to become a qualified teacher you need to undertake Initial Teacher Training (ITT) or Initial Teacher Education. Entry is generally competitive but less so for shortage subjects such as Maths.
How do I get into teaching?
Half of the ITT’s are school led and the other half are university led. You need a minimum of a 2:2 to get into teaching as well as an enhanced DBS check.
Undergraduate teaching degree’s
Make sure your qualification is transferable by choosing an undergraduate course that includes qualified teacher status so you can teach in schools. This is a particularly popular path into primary school teaching as many people opt for this straight after their A Levels.
School Training Option
Schools recruit and train teachers on the job, in partnership with other schools or a university. School Direct courses lead to QTS, possibly a PGCE and/or Masters-level credits. This path often leads to employment in the school or alliance (group of schools in the local area) where the training took place.
What about the PGCE route?
A popular university-led route leading to QTS is the PGCE route where following your initial degree you will do a year’s course in order to become a qualified teacher. If your degree discipline isn’t relevant to the secondary level subject you want to teach there will be an opportunity to complete a subject knowledge enhancement course in order to get you up to speed with the chosen subject.
There are many paths into teaching but what you must remember that is whichever pass you choose, if you are in England you will be required to pass the QTS Skills Tests in order to begin your initial teacher training. Many underestimate the difficulty of the QTS Skills Tests and how much preparation you have to do in order to pass. The professional numeracy skills test in particular is challenging and many people struggle with this especially if they haven’t studied Maths for a while. At QTS Maths Tutor we have both expert numeracy and literacy skills tutors who can help you to pass your professional QTS Skills Tests. We also have lots of exceptional numeracy skills test revision materials to help you practice for your exam; these include 21 online numeracy skills practice tests. Contact QTS Maths Tutor today to help you overcome the QTS Skills Tests and gain entry on to your teacher training course.
QTS Maths Tutor Team
We help thousands of students each year with revision, courses and online exams.