Can you be a SEN teacher with no qualifications?

[Redtaper]

Or a SEN teaching assistant?

@JeandeServiette

Its exactly what it says on the tin and it’s shortened to UQT (unqualified) a qualified teachers has QTS (qualified teacher status) but BOTH have the “title” of teacher. Schools love unqualified ones though as they’re cheaper.

@JeandeServiette

there are learning mentors etc but even if a staff member has the title of “teacher” it does not necessarily mean that they are qualified. It’s a total farce.

Well I'm really shocked by that. They've blurred the lines entirely then?

Wow. I didn't realise that. Why are the unions not rioting?

They've tried striking. It's one of a list of very many problems in teaching. The greatest will be inflation and mortgage rises with no reflection in pay. Teachers have been paid badly for years but with the recent rises, it's even worse. And you want these people to have degrees plus extra teacher training!

@JeandeServiette

Totally. They go by the title of teacher. It’s only the school who know if they’re unqualified or qualified. Parents and students would be none the wiser. If you do a quick Google search of “unqualified teacher jobs” you would quickly have your eyes opened.

There are quite a few 'unqualified teachers'.
I'm not sure how it actually works. But it is quite common. I think they have to be educated to degree level.
With regards to TA, I know that it is very common that training on the job to become SEN specialists.
I often read on here that TAs don't need to be qualified as such to get jobs in school but, in my local area, each advert specifies qualification as essential criteria.

This is because school budgets have been cut to the bone. Our school cannot afford a single day of supply. If someone is sick then a TA has to cover.
It’s a good job there isn’t any money for courses too as there isn’t any money to cover for that either.

🎵 wanders off whistling about the days when there used to be a list at the beginning of the year with all the courses you could take. Those days are long gone. 🎵

@OnceUponATimeInChristmasTime

I can assure you the unqualified ones I know of do not have degrees. Thats just another smoke screen. If someone had a degree and wanted to teach they would just do the training so they were adequately paid for what they were doing. I did a quick Google search and this was the first post on my feed ….

An English teacher required qualified or unqualified (with the unqualified one being more attractive from a financial point of view).

Unions have been striking but teachers get called workshy and get complaints about the lack of childcare…….

Unqualified teacher is an actual job role as opposed to a teacher by another name. There is a separate pay scale - better than HLTA but not as much as a qualified teacher.

Even the School Teacher Pay and Conditions document (STPAC) makes provision for unqualified teachers. Their starting pay is lower than a qualified teacher but there is overlap.

Lots of unqualified teachers are working in schools, but their job description, title, responsibilities are exactly the same as a teacher.

TBF some of them are really good and have usually come to teaching for the right reasons, after a career elsewhere, whereas some qualified teachers who've never done anything else really could do with wider experience/a change. Most will have had some training, just not a professional qualification.

It's now possible to qualify as a teacher in about 3 months anyway, depending on the path.

They're (sometimes) paid differently but the job description and responsibilities are the same. Academies can pay what they like though, so if they have one they want to keep or are struggling to recruit, an UQT won't always be paid less.

You can be an sen assistant with no quals but will likely get on the job training, but not the main class teacher. I'm a qualified sen college teacher but started from assistant level and then did a pttls level 3 course before doing the level 4/5 DETs teaching course

Actually I think there's a case for the unions backing the UQTs. What other role could you have the same JD, title and responsibilities but be paid less because you hold different qualifications?

Often UQT do have very wide experience that qualified teachers don't always have.

You’re absolutely right. I’m currently a TA, have lots of experience in different roles and have done lots of different courses. It is starting to grate on me that I’m paid the same as a TA who just started this year and who has never attended even a workshop on education. I know she would really struggle to do some of the things I do eg SEN interventions which is why I get asked. Yet we get paid the same and no matter how I well I perform, that won’t change. I love my job but I do feel a bit of a mug.

You can if you get private SEN schools. Often those paying have unqualified teachers 🙃

Well, this has been an eye opener.

@Gilmorehill

It is a mugs game and a hangover “female” job that fitted in with the kids which has now grown and become absurd for the pay and responsibility. Zero progression, low status, moaning parents etc etc. Honestly why would anyone want to be a teacher or a TA these days?

TAs like you get mugged off
Teachers who went to Uni and got themselves qualified also now get mugged off with unqualified individuals.

What a fucking farce the education sector is.

@Gilmorehill @SparklingMarkling exactly. It’s so sad and so frustrating and part of the reason I doubt I’ll go back into working in the education system. Our kids deserve better, the adults teaching them (and I’m including TAs and LSAs in this!) deserve better.

I'm a SEN TA. It is minimum wage. It is challenging work. Schools can't expect qualifications for minimum wage. They expect far too much already for the wage they pay

A friend of mine with no teaching qualifications whatsoever said she has an interview as a SEN teacher in a school and I was surprised and said but you have no qualifications! I mean, she's a nice person and has been off work for a few years due to MH problems so I'm happy she has an interview, but she has no SEN or teacher training.

I’m in Scotland, to teach in a SEN school you need to be GTCS registered with a suitable teaching degree. In our school there must always be a teacher in class with support staff (SENs). SENs are paid a pittance they have been campaign to be paid more than mainstream TAs as their job is much more complex including personal care, PEG feeding, catheters etc

You get specialist SEN teachers for deaf children, those with vision impairment and others with physical and sensory needs. We are required to have QTS AND an additional mandatory post-grad qualification. We are the teachers who are employed by the council and visit different schools each day to provide advice/ training for staff and interventions for the pupils.

So we are all qualified. But, as stated above, academies can employ anyone they want (with DBS) to teach their classes. The title of 'teacher' is not protected in any way.

@SparklingMarkling couldn't have said it better myself. The gap between the needs of parents and families and the pay afforded to those expected to make a difference in their role is unreal. Truly a mugs game.

As a SEN parent, I find it so extremely frustrating that I am (now) more knowledgeable about SEN than the SENco, at every school we've attended.

I couldn't actually care less if the Senco doesn't have a teaching qualification (if non teaching role), but I do expect them to know about different disabilities, specific learning difficulties, autism, anxiety, and techniques that can help the children navigate life at school life generally, as well as in learning. They need to be calm and consistent in their approach, a great listener, and have knowledge about the trauma that families go through, to get any support.

They should be more specifically qualified than teachers, and help support the teachers spld knowledge gaps, rather than learning 'on the job' from other teachers who do not have enough spld/have dangerous or incorrect views on spld.

I have heard senco's spout utter rubbish about my child's issues, whilst simultaneously blocking us accessing the help they need with incorrect information (that I believed at the time).