DC’s teacher didn’t go to university.

Years ago, teachers didn’t usually go to Uni. They went to teacher training colleges. Thry managed fine.

Now that I did not know.

Only Scottish teachers are required to hold degrees.

I can fully understand your surprise and unhappiness about learning this fact about the teacher. However, are they good at their job? Do children achieve well in their subject? If the answer is yes to both then what does the degree, or lack of, mean?

I have worked alongside Oxbridge teachers who have amazing subject knowledge and fully understand pedagogy but when it comes to classroom presence they just don’t cut it.

I imagine this teacher has had plenty of training at the school they work in and their experience shouldn’t be discounted. Obviously, if your children aren’t doing well in their class then do obviously raise this as a concern. If not, do nothing.

I thought that all teachers needed a degree, I was unaware that there were different requirements for private schools

My only concern about a teacher not having a degree in their subject is the question of whether their subject knowledge is up to scratch. Doing a degree doesn't make you more intellectually suited to being a teacher, it just gives you the subject knowledge you need to teach your subject. However, many secondary teachers are teaching outside of their degree subject areas these days, so the degree teachers have has become much less relevant to their classroom practice in recent years.

As an English teacher myself, I think it's perfectly possible to be a good English teacher without an English degree, but only if you have done the reading and research to develop the subject knowledge an English degree gives you in your own time. It would seem that Mrs Jones gets good results, is well liked and no one has ever had reason to question her abilities, so it sounds like she knows her stuff despite her lack of formal qualifications. Private schools can hire whoever they like to teach, and if the school feels she is skilled and effective, and you have no evidence to suggest otherwise, then I don't see why you would have any reason to complain. If she hadn't have mentioned her lack of degree to you, you wouldn't be any the wiser, by the sounds of it, so I think this is something you just need to accept the school's judgement on.

I've never had anything to do with private education but even I knew it wasn't mandatory across the board to be a qualified teacher like it is in state schools. If she's a good teacher though what's the issue?

My dad was a teacher for 30+ years without having gone to university.

He was in the services, then went to teacher training college and got a teaching diploma. No degree or university.

She shouldn’t have opened her mouth to you. I really hope you can keep your astonishment to yourself about this and leave the woman alone.

I've heard before that this sometimes happens in private schools. It's one of several reasons why I didn't want my DC to go to private schools.

Why are you concerned if she is a good teacher?

Common knowledge that private school teachers don’t need degrees.

It’s really clear on DD’s private school’s website what qualifications each teacher has. Some of the much older more experienced teachers don’t have degrees (maybe just 1% of staff). I would also agree with the point made above - the teachers with PhDs and oxbridge quals are not necessarily the best at actually teaching.

you would be unreasonable to raise it with the school unless gaps in the teacher’s knowledge had been exposed, or her classes achieved demonstrably worse than other classes taking the same syllabus with a different teacher.

@SensualDecay why do you think the teacher doesn't have a good depth of knowledge in the subject despite not having a degree certificate?

What level is she teaching, if it's A level I might be worried anything less I don't think matters. And these days curriculums are so prescribed anyone half intelligent could learn to teach individual courses, interesting the children and controlling the class are often more important than academic attainment.

I wouldn't think it was great if she taught A level, as surely a degree in English (or similar) would be needed for that but if she is a good teacher, then GCSE would be fine.

What is your actual concern? Where is she failing your children in class? What lessons has she missed/taught incorrectly? What methods is she using which you feel aren’t up to the same standards as a university degree holder?

What’s the issue?

The snobbery around people with degrees against people who don’t have them is incredible.

I don’t have a degree but have very good knowledge in a particular field. I often get asked advice which I give, but then those same people often don’t ask again if they find out I didn’t go to university.

If someone is good at their job so what if they don’t have a degree

That used to be the case in Scotland. The law was changed a few years ago and now all teaching staff have to be fully qualified. I recall an instance of a private school in the west of Scotland being closed down after an inspection - it was a faith school and only one teacher had a teaching qualification.

I find it amusing that people can find themselves paying over the odds for a private education.

Some years back, another dept in my school failed an NQT (FOUR years and still failed to qualify - highly unusual. I think they'd be failed sooner nowadays.)
One day, I was sitting in the staffroom and heard "Bloody hell!"

There, pictured in a TES feature about a certain private school in Edinburgh, was a pic of the failed probationer/NQT.

The UK's Deputy PM is not a teacher.

This wouldn’t bother me, Dh doesn’t have a degree, is in a highly paid job that requires quite a lot of brain power. He’s not stupid in the least. Frankly as a person with a degree who knows a lot of people with degrees I think they may be slightly overrated. Passion for her subject matter, ability to deliver the curriculum in a way which means the kids get it, results. Thats what matters to me.

My mum went to teacher training college and didn't have a degree, she was a brilliant teacher. You didn't need it when she started. Unfortunately the new head teacher bullied her out as a result (it was in a private school). If she's a good teacher it doesn't matter, there are plenty of teachers with no experience but a degree, what would you rather have?

My mum was a primary school teacher for over 40 years. She doesn't have a degree. A friend of mine had a degree from Cambridge, but isn't a qualified teacher. But teaches in private schools.

That's the kind of thing you should have researched before sending your children to a private school. I was privately educated and thought it was quite well known that teachers in the sector don't have to be qualified.

I have an English degree but I'd be a totally unsuitable English teacher. I think it's great that Mrs Jones has managed to progress to teaching in this way, and the school recognised her ability.

How does spending 3+ years doing research make you a good teacher?