DC’s teacher didn’t go to university.

When was she promoted? I went to private school and we had a terrible Spanish teacher who left. Teachers have to be able to teach. Don't know if he had a degree.

The qualifications of the deputy PM are clearly irrelevant as there are no minimum qualifications to be an MP and the entire sector is pretty much unregulated.

This statement is also true.

The qualifications of the teaccher are clearly irrelevant as there are no minimum qualifications to be a teacher in a private school and the entire sector is pretty much unregulated.

I think all secondary teachers should have a degree in the subject they teach (or at least a 'higher education' qualification).

Primary teachers should have a degree in primary education or similar.

If I was paying to educate my imaginary child I'd most certainly expect it to be an elite experience.

A degree doesn't necessarily mean someone is higher calibre than someone who doesn't have one. That's a myth. Within the state sector you can learn to teach, through an apprenticeship type program. The students, mainly more mature, learn but also have hands-on teaching placements too. As long as the teacher has the correct knowledge, can engage the students and deliver the results, her not having a degree is irrelevant.

Why do we have to choose between being a good teacher and knowing a lot about the subject?

I'd rather my kid had a teacher who actually knows their shit in depth than has a degree personally. It's how it used to be years ago and it worked. DBS check etc, absolutely, degree needed and lots of debt? Absolutely not.

Wow - elitist much.

Personally, I would hope my child was educated at the upper level of their secondary education by a subject specialist with at least a BA in the subject.

I'm sure she knows enough to teach at the level your child requires.

I've taught English to adults before and I haven't got so much as an English GCSE.

One of the worst teachers I had had a PhD. It seems that she has the ability to teach well and the school promoted her as a result of this.
I wouldn't have an issue with this.

I really don't see the problem here - would you rather have a teacher who has a degree but who can't teach well and doesn't establish positive relationships with their students or someone who the school has identified as being perfectly capable of teaching, has proven to be successful in position but hasn't got a degree?

Some things are more important. And I am a teacher who does have a degree!

Teachers don't need a degree to teach in a state academy either, and the great majority of secondary schools are academies:

"42.7% of primary schools are now academies or free schools, accounting for 44.2% of the primary school population. 81.9% of secondary schools are academies or free schools, accounting for 81.7% of secondary school pupils" (from gov.uk).

So your child may well be taught be a teacher without a degree in a state secondary; it's not just a private school thing. DH's department (state academy) has had one just recently. Some subjects are really really struggling to recruit (eg maths and science). And this is in an Ofsted Outstanding school with a relatively privileged intake and few serious behaviour problems.

I worked in a primary school. As lovely as the NQTs were, some of them were woefully lacking in general knowledge. Yes they had a degree, but a degree in a random subject didn't necessarily make them good teachers. Some of them clearly wanted to be teachers not for a desire to teach and educate young minds, they were mainly interested in a well paid job and six weeks off to go travelling.

If your child has a teacher who is good at their job and knows their subject, be thankful for small mercies. Having a degree does not mean someone will be a good teacher.

I’m curious why you think not having attended university makes them unsuitable ? Many teachers with a degree teach a different subject to their gained degree. A degree doesn’t teach you how to teach. With many years experience being a TA and then a teacher will stand her in much better stead than a newly qualified teacher effectively straight out of university ( with a non related degree) and education but very limited teaching experience and limited life skills. “Mrs Jones is highly thought of, very well liked and given high praise” ……….. so clearly her experience and life skills make her an effective teacher.

I think people often assume private schools will have the best teachers. It has been suggested to me, by parents who send their children to private school that I should look to work on one, to earn more.

Private schools often pay less and do not always offer the teachers pension scheme and so it's not surprising they may not always be able to recruit the best qualified staff. I'm not saying private school teachers are all worse than state of course, just that there is no reason to assume they would be better. The only teachers I know that have moved from state to private have done so because they couldn't cope in the state sector.

In addition, there is of course a massive teacher recruitment and retention issue in both state and private sectors. All of our teachers have degrees in my school, but we often have to teach outside of our specialisms to plug gaps in timetables.

I would much rather have a great teacher with no degree, than a poor teacher with one. I say this as somebody with a degree, and a Master's; sometimes it really is just a piece of paper. There are so many extremely intelligent people that have so much potential, and fully capable of obtaining a degree; they just simply didn't go to university.
You have alluded to the fact that this lady is a very good teacher. I understand your surprise, I would have thought it was needed too. I'm pleased it isn't, she sounds wonderful.

Why would you raise it? What is the concern?

I wouldn’t raise it. They obviously felt she was capable of the job and you said everyone praised her teaching.

There are teachers with a degree who are abysmal and the children know they don’t know what they’re talking about. You wouldn’t be achieving anything.

So she's a great teacher who your children love, but you now have an issue with her because you've realised she doesn't have a degree? Is that right?

Who cares? You don’t need a degree to be an excellent educator. She ended up in her career through an atypical route. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Lots of very bright and capable people don’t have degrees. Lots of utter numpties do. It’s not a guarantee of competence.

This 👆 if shes good at her job and getting the desired results thsts what matters.

You don’t need a degree to teach! In the private sector, academy and free schools you don’t even need QTS.

Whats the point of raising with the school? They know her qualifications and clearly decided her ability to teach and engage pupils (and presumably deliver exam results) is far more important than having a degree.

My children’s school isn’t private. Nonetheless I wouldn’t be particularly bothered if someone who was otherwise a good teacher, popular with students and parents and got good results hadn’t been to university. I think University is massively overrated for a lot of careers.

What's your concern? What is she lacking due to not having a degree?