Top Education Trends for Graduates and Newly Qualified Teachers

How to find a teaching job

Finding the right school and job role for you, are the first steps towards your career in education. Search here for vacancies in your area, using the job title or keyword for the roles you are interested in.

When applying, consider what is important to you in terms of the school’s size, ethos, religious affiliation, catchment area and the curriculum they teach. Undertake online research into the schools in your geographical area and check out their vacancies’ pages.

Teaching skills required

The typical skills needed by Graduates and NQTs when applying for teaching jobs include a deep understanding of your chosen subject, your delivery of that knowledge, and a passion for teaching children.

There are also new skills required by educators, such as the ability to use technology in the classroom, delivering remote learning, appropriately adapting learning materials, and pupil wellbeing.

Supply Teaching and Cover Supervisor roles

These are excellent options to gain experience before committing to a full-time teaching role.

Qualifications needed to become a Supply Teacher include a degree and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). There are no specific qualifications needed to become a Cover Supervisor, but successful candidates will need a passion for teaching and some experience in working with children.

The benefits of these roles are the flexibility they offer you, gaining experience in a wide variety of workplaces, the chance to relocate to a new area and, the freedom of teaching without the added responsibility that goes with a permanent teaching role.

If you have not already done so, register here with Career Teachers and we can start looking for suitable positions for you.

Job application processes and interviews

Prior to any interviews, it is recommended to take the time to read the school’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) reports and try to conduct a visit of the school. Use what you learn from these when completing your application and for answering interview questions.

A personal statement or teaching CV could be expected as part of the application process and should cover what is specified in the job application, be well structured and include:

No more than two sides of A4.
Your motivation to teach and what kind of Teacher you want to be.
Tailoring each application to the specific role you are interested in.
Your education, relevant experience, training, qualifications, and employment history, explaining any unaccounted-for gaps.
Evidence of your successes, achievements, skills, and any extracurricular activities that will make you stand out.

Click here for examples of personal statements for a variety of teaching roles. It may be worth asking someone to proofread your statement and check for spelling errors, punctuation, grammar, and typos before submitting.

Click here for tips on how to write a successful Teacher CV.

Job interviews with education employers tend to be more traditional in their interview style and two-stage format. The first interview is generally designed to short-list the most appropriate candidates. The second interview is typically with the head, deputy head or head of department for a final decision to be made.

Common questions asked are usually around your strengths and weaknesses, how you would manage a certain scenario, your motivation to teach, why you want to work at that specific school, and what you find most frustrating or rewarding about teaching.

Click here for more examples of interview questions and advice.

Interviewers will be looking for excellent communication skills, a passion and motivation to teach, well-thought-out answers, good knowledge of the school, their ethos and its pupils, positive social skills, and evidence of classroom management skills.

Teaching trends

Key education trends that you need to be aware of when applying for jobs include:

Pupil careers education is expanding, Teachers are helping pupils to explore their future career options and linking classroom teaching to professional pathways, job applications and the world of work.

The use of innovation to help pupils obtain work experience. Due to the pandemic, physical placements are not always possible or recommended. Innovative solutions to this could take the form of virtual interactions, online talks, digital events, and virtual careers fairs.

Apprenticeships saw an upsurge, giving young people the opportunity to learn on the job and get paid. Teachers can assist pupils to obtain information and understand what is expected from them as an apprentice.

Forming collaborations with local businesses to support shared learning between schools and employers will aid careers leaders’ knowledge and skills and increase the chances of schools achieving the Gatsby benchmark for a good careers programme.

There is a myriad of new technology in teaching, including nanolearning, use of video content, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Click here to read more about the types of technologies that are being used in classrooms.