Becoming a teacher with no degree

[PurpleSleeves]

Hi all, name changed for this. I have worked as a TA for the past couple of years and love it. The pay and career progression, however, are very poor. I also yearn to have a bit more responsibility and input in to lessons etc. I am educated to A-Levels only; I dropped out of uni due to family issues. If I were to go down the teacher route, I believe I would need to do an Access course, a degree and then my PGSE - does that sound right? I’m overwhelmed at the thought of 4/5 years of study and being the oldest on the course etc, I would also be 40+ when I qualify. Would love to hear any opinions or experiences! Thank you.

You need GCSEs in English and maths (plus science for primary) and a degree. If you want to teach primary, you could do a primary Ed degree with QTS.

I started aged 35 doing an OU degree, then did a PGCE. I qualified as a primary teacher aged 40.
I love learning, I miss the studying. Enjoy the journey, I probably enjoyed it more than teaching!

If you wanted to teach primary then you could look at an undergraduate course with QTS.Some secondary options also have a 3 year route with QTS but they're not as common as degree plus PGCE.

When I trained there were around 40 of us and half were people retraining to be teachers in their late 20s-early 40s, so I wouldn't worry about being the oldest on the course.

@wonderpants

I started aged 35 doing an OU degree, then did a PGCE. I qualified as a primary teacher aged 40. I love learning, I miss the studying. Enjoy the journey, I probably enjoyed it more than teaching!

Do you mind me asking how long the OU course took, and is it a lot more money compared to standard unis?

That is reassuring, @LolaSmiles - thank you

It took just under 6 years I think. I did it part time alongside working in a completely different field. I started it as a hobby, I didn't intend to go into teaching. I self funded, it was a lot cheaper then.
To do it now, I would either do a bachelors with QTS and get student finance or a do a degree in something that interests me with student finance and see which direction it takes me.
There are calculators to work out how much you are entitled to. I did quite well out of it and only pay a small amount back now.

I did have degree and masters already, but I’m doing pgce now and am 41! Go for it! If I was doing primary in your position, I’d go for BEd. The pgce year is crazy and I think you get more school time via BEd.

Well if you’re my sister in law nothing but teaching assistant qualifications.

She has her own year 3 class and her own TA.
Full class responsibility. She has minimal GCSES and no degree. She’s hired by an academy so she’s one of those “experts” the department of education keep banging on about.

She’s not an expert, she’s a cheap teacher! I haven’t asked her but I highly doubt she gets paid the same.

So might be an option for you depending on academies. I would rather not be exploited like that though and it would be better to be trained properly.

@Chillychangchoo that sounds awful! No, I would definitely want to do it properly. I wouldn’t be too impressed if I was the parents of that class...

@PurpleSleeves

I doubt they know. Funnily enough the academy has just spent thousands of pounds decorating the school. The interior designs are stunning and it looks amazing on facebook. A school of wonder and awe apparently 🤣. Perhaps they ought to employ fully qualified staff, and that would be a good start.

Guess it looks good on facebook though.

You definitely won’t be the oldest on the course. I retrained in my early 40s ( some time ago !) and there were another couple my age on course.
I have worked in a teaching school for the past ten years or so and we get loads of trainees of 40+ and older

OU fees are £6336 per full-time year, compared with up to £9250 at most other universities. You can get a student loan for the fees (but with the OU you can only get a maintenance loan under certain circumstances). You can study full-time and do it in three years, or do it part-time alongside working.

@Chillychangchoo

Well if you’re my sister in law nothing but teaching assistant qualifications.

She has her own year 3 class and her own TA.
Full class responsibility. She has minimal GCSES and no degree. She’s hired by an academy so she’s one of those “experts” the department of education keep banging on about.

She’s not an expert, she’s a cheap teacher! I haven’t asked her but I highly doubt she gets paid the same.

So might be an option for you depending on academies. I would rather not be exploited like that though and it would be better to be trained properly.

There is a pay scale for unqualified teachers (this is for England only I think) www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/pay-pensions/pay-scales/england-pay-scales.html#Unqualified%20Teachers

It's a con and parents aren't aware of how exploitative it is

I was a TA/EYP and did a work based degree (so I was working and studying at the same time), got my BA then went on to do a PGCE and have been teaching for a few years , It took 4 years to get to my QTS

A colleague of mine was a TA then did a 3 year degree with QTS so she qualified a year earlier than me, but she could afford to give up work for 3 years to get on with it!

You already have A-Levels so you won’t need to do an access course.

If you want to teach primary you could do a degree with QTS so it would take three years. For secondary it’s usually 3 year degree and then a training year - most people do PGCE and fund it themselves still but with your experience in school already you might be able to get a school direct salaried place (which includes PGCE with some providers).

We have an HLTA at our school who has been doing some unqualified teaching and is now doing an accelerated degree course over 2 years instead of 3 so it’s worth looking around.