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Skills for life teacher

Skills for life teachers work with adults and sometimes 16 to 18-year-olds to improve their English and maths.

Average annual salary

£20,000 to £30,000

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Entry Requirements:

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship

University

If you have a degree in a relevant subject, without qualified teacher status, you can apply for a postgraduate teacher training course like:

  • postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE)
  • professional graduate diploma in education (PGDE) in teaching disabled adults

GOV UK has further details on postgraduate courses.

Entry requirements:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

College

You'll need a recognised teaching qualification or be willing to work towards one. Examples include:

  • Level 3 Award in Education and Training
  • Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training
  • Level 5 Education and Training Diploma - need access to 100 hours of teaching practice

Entry requirements:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths

Apprenticeship

You can complete a learning and skills teacher higher apprenticeship.

This typically takes around 24 months to complete.

You'll need a qualification or experience in the subject you want to teach. Employers will be looking for relevant up-to-date industry experience.

You'll also need to show ability in English, maths and IT.

Entry requirements:

Volunteering

To find out if you're suited to this type of teaching, you could do some voluntary work, although this is not essential.

You can find out about volunteering opportunities at Do IT or at NCVO.

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Required Skills:

Digital skills : to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Skills:
  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • the ability to work on your own
  • leadership skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
  • customer service skills
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • knowledge of English language
  • the ability to read English
  • knowledge of media production and communication
  • the ability to monitor your own performance and that of your colleagues
  • the ability to teach pupils how to do something
  • active listening skills
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • the ability to sell products and services
  • concentration skills
  • a good memory
  • the ability to work well with your hands
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What you'll do:

Skills for life teachers work with adults and sometimes 16 to 18-year-olds to improve their English and maths.

In your day-to-day duties you could:

  • carry out skills assessments
  • talk to students about what they want to achieve
  • design learning plans to suit the needs and abilities of students
  • prepare teaching materials
  • use a range of resources like worksheets and computer packages
  • deliver individual and group teaching sessions
  • keep records
  • guide and support learning support assistants and volunteers

Location : You could work in the community, at a training centre or at an adult education centre.

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Salary:

Starter : £20,000
Experienced : £30,000

These figures are a guide

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Working hours:

35 - 37 hours variable

Working Pattern is evenings

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Career Path:

There may be opportunities to move into more senior roles like head of department, or to train other teachers.

You could be self-employed and work as a freelancer.

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