Can my dsis retrain as a primary teacher without A levels or a degree?

[Mamamanatee]

She has a HND in a non academic subject.

I think it very unlikely. You could do a degree with Qualified Teacher Status, but I can’t imagine you would get a place without academic qualifications at an A level or equivalent.
What did she get for gcse maths and English?

getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/eligibility-for-teacher-training
This site tells you all you need to know

She failed maths many times. Actually I'm not sure she ever passed

She's in a bad place and wants to do this but she's older and it's looking hopeless.

It has reminded me to check that my ds has done his homework!

Unlikely, has she done any work placements in school or read the current curriculum requirements? It is very heavy on maths and English at quite a high level- fronted adverbial, equations etc. Not at all like when were at school.

She would definitely need maths, sorry.

An HND is equivalent to two years of a university degree I think. If she got her gcse maths and English and some experience as a teaching assistant then she might be able to train on the job as a primary teacher. There is a route for people to train on the job if they have two years of a degree.

Well if she never passed gcse maths then the answer is a complete no.
In fact I would go as far to say that if she struggled with maths at gcse that badly then she shouldn’t even think about being a primary teacher. I am very involved in primary maths teaching and you need a good grasp of the subject well beyond the end of primary.

She’ll need maths regardless of any HND. Has she looked down the TA route?

She cannot do it without a degree unless she went down the old, traditional teacher training route at University (but would need A levels). For one of the newer routes into teaching she need a degree, as in ALL routes can’t do it without Maths and English. Plus, if she wants to teach primary, she’s also need science.

My exh is a teacher. He redid maths and English GCSE at night college classes and got Bs with my help. He then managed to get on a degree with half a gnvq from years ago.

He got a first!

Now teaches secondary and has for well over a decade.

Pretty sure you need a degree. But with primary teaching you can take this as your teaching qualification iyswim. I think it's a 4 year four course.

My information is obviously a decade or 2 out of date.

She needs GCSE maths, science and English Language at grade C or above. Plus she would have to pass the professional skills tests in numeracy and literacy. She will need A levels or (possibly acceptable equivalents) and then would need to get a degree. She'd need at least 2 weeks worth of work experience in a school to be considered.

It's hugely competitive. The unis get about 4 times the number of applications to places.

If she's prepared to get the necessary qualifications then go for it. If not then I wouldn't bother.

Are there other education-related jobs she’d consider? TA or Early Years professional? Still needs qualifications but won’t be as demanding as the teaching route. She could always do more studying later on and then apply for teaching once she has more experience on the job.

It’s called the registered teacher programme. If you have an hnd it takes two years of training on the job where you will be payed 16k a year. She needs to get gcse maths, english and science ( or an equivalency course but gcse might be viewed preferably) and as much experience working in a school now, before she applies.

I don't want this to sound awful but I don't think she's clever enough she'd really struggle with any academic stuff.

She's really kind and caring though.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_Teacher_Programme

Why does she want to teach OP? Maybe since teaching is currently looking unlikely (unless she takes maths GCSEs/ degree), looking to her reasons to teach might reveal other areas she could look to.

I would advise her to identify all schools in her area that have previously run the RTP and if any vacancies come up for teaching assistants roles in these schools then apply. RTP places are rare and nearly always go to teaching assistants who the school know well and already believe would make a good teacher.

If she’s not very academic then maybe it would be better to work in a nursery. The pay is shit though.

I think she wants a career. She's drifting aimlessly atm

Depending on where you live TA jobs are becoming rarer due to lack of funding. My DD is on a gap year before teacher training at uni. She has a volunteer TA position. AnyTA positions that do come up are for suitably qualified HLTA's (so academic qualifications required) usually to work one to one with a particular child or to be teaching cover.

TBH if she struggles with maths would she be able to teach it?

If she wants to work with children would she be better looking at Nursery Apprenticeships? She'd probably still need maths and English but might get help to pass them?

I really hope she can't. I personally wouldn't want someone who can't get a GCSE in Maths teaching my child.

Teaching requires GCSE maths and English, A levels and a degree. I have a friend who re trained as a teacher but it was a long road to get the qualifications.
The age of the pupils makes no difference to the qualifications required. As others have said, there are other roles in schools and nurseries which do not need applicants to have a degree.

I hope she gets a careeer by it doesn't sound like teaching is for her, sorry.

Give up on teaching if she's not academic it's very unlikely she'd be offered a place to train and there's a lot of academic work involved.

Also as PP says, parents wouldn't want unqualified people teaching their children.

Although she would need to have English, Maths and Science GCSE and still pass the entrance tests; perhaps an early years teaching degree would be more suitable? You can only teach children up to 5 years old, and if she has the qualities and characteristics to do well in this environment, the academics are at a lower level. They are offering a bursary and a grant to study, which suggests they are trying to encourage people to study; and maybe don’t have the high level of applications to places that primary does.