Private schools don’t have to hire qualified teachers but many don’t like to hire unqualified (unless it’s a money saver). Let’s face it, parents pay thousands a term and, like in state, are generally more demanding than they ever have been, I know many around me don’t make a habit of it these days.
To be honest, for her sake in the long term, it would be better to gain her QTs. Better pension scheme, better prospects, ability to move up the pay scale. A school could promise her the normal pay and conditions of a qualified teacher when she’s unqualified, but it only takes a new Head to overturn that.
I recommend you look up Teaching Apprenticeship as well as PGCE - I did the Apprenticeship at the prep school I work in. First off it saves you £9k. You have a small fee to pay. However I will add that I was a TA at my school first before they encouraged me to do the apprenticeship. Your role needs to be secured for this and I was paid as an Unqualified Teacher whilst I gained my QTS, so I’m not sure how it would work for your DD, I don’t know if schools really advertise for teacher apprentices. A PGCE may be easier to get if she isn’t working in a school already.
She 99% absolutely will not be able to avoid the state sector in training, and I leave the 1% because there’s always a chance I missed a trick, but when I was searching for a provider, the key was always two placement schools on one year training, and any provider that allowed you to train in an independent school required you also spent time in a “contrasting” school. That meant state. Your DD will need to realise this. I had to do a 6 week placement in a state school in my QTS year, so half a term.
So her options are:
Apply for a standard PGCE - accept that her placements will likely be state, it’s an unpaid year, she can then apply only for jobs in the private sector if she wishes and need never step foot in a state school again.
Keep an eye on school websites, job websites for independent school teaching jobs that don’t require QTS. She may get lucky and may well be able to get in this way, and stay as an unqualified through her career. If she want to then get QTS, she will have to do some state school time.
Unless…..she has a degree, gets a job as an unqualified teacher, then after two years as a sole class teacher she may qualify for Assessment Only route which is a 3 month fast track QTS that only needs to be carried out at her school. She will, however, have to demonstrate enough experience across the board and lack of state school exposure could, or could not, mean she isn’t taken on this route.
If she has no degree yet, a degree in Primary Education will give her the QTS with her degree. Again, placements will most likely be state but she is free to do her ECT years in the independent sector.
Private schools often advertise for gap students, this is also quite a good way in if she really applies herself and communicates her desire to climb the leader to teaching.
I will say…..I’ve worked in both (state only as a TA though) - several teacher colleagues have only worked in independent and there is a difference I see between them and those who have taught in the state sector too. My personal thoughts are that my colleagues who have taught in both are that bit more resilient, that little bit more patient, their eyes are open a bit wider and they’re just a bit more realistic. Our class sizes have been growing recently which is great, but some teachers have absolutely flipped over having a class of 18. Huge to some, minute to those who have dealt with 30 plus. Likewise additional needs etc, unless you’re somewhere like West London, the private sector isn’t generally as oversubscribed as it once was and many schools can’t afford to be as “choosy” when it comes to pupils. My class of 17 has both extreme ends of the academic scale, an autistic child, a child showing signs of dyslexia, a couple of behavioural issues that take a lot of work, a possible ADHD case. Some of my colleagues are very used to a time when preps were more affordable to the average middle class family, meaning schools could cherry pick. Way less schools do this now. Nor do they have a bottomless pit of cash despite the fees. I think time in the state sector is very good for professional development and I know it’s a sad state of affairs right now.
Best of luck to her finding her path