What can you do with a teaching degree?

To teach or not to teach — that is the question! Well, lucky for you, a teaching degree opens the door to many different career opportunities, not just specifically teaching jobs. The skills you learn on a teaching degree are extremely transferable and useful, which makes a lot of sense when you consider the important role that teachers play in shaping young lives and preparing students for all kinds of obstacles.

As with any big life decision, you’re probably weighing up the pros and cons of a teaching degree. To get all of your biggest questions answered, head over to our ultimate guide to teaching degrees article and make sure you’re all clued up. But for now, let’s talk career options. From teaching in schools to working in local government, we’ll make sure to explore all of the possibilities.

What are your career options with a teaching degree?

Broadly, we can divide your career options into three categories. There are the jobs that actually include teaching students, whether they’re toddlers or fully grown adults, jobs in the educational space that don’t require you to teach, and then the jobs across entirely different industries that utilise the transferable skills you’ve developed on your degree.

Making the decision about which route to go down can be difficult, but you don’t need to have it all figured out before choosing your degree. You’ll most likely realise what’s right for you after a combination of studying, work experience, and exploring your interests in other ways.

Teaching jobs with a teaching degree 

So, let’s get into it. We’ll start off with the most obvious career options you could pursue, giving a brief overview of what the job involves and revealing the average annual salary in the UK for each role.

1. Primary school teacher

If you enjoy working with younger children and are interested in teaching a range of different subjects, primary teaching might be your calling. You won’t just be responsible for your students’ academic development, such as in reading, writing and maths, but for their social and emotional development too. 

Since they’ll be between the ages of four and eleven, these children have a lot to learn about life and themselves, and you’ll be their mentor throughout this exciting and challenging chapter of learning and growth.

Average annual salary in the UK: £31,932

2. Secondary school teacher

Also interested in teaching children, but want to specialise in your subject of choice? Secondary teaching might be for you, especially if you’re more interested in schooling young people on how to be well-adjusted adults rather than looking after younger kids.

In your specialist subject — preferably something you’re passionate about and skilled in — you’ll plan lessons, lead classes, and assess the work and progress of your students. You’ll also have the opportunity to go on school trips, run extra-curricular activities, and take on more pastoral roles like form tutor or head of year.

Average annual salary in the UK: £36,400

3. Further education teacher

If working with teenagers and mature students sounds more like your cup of tea, you could look into becoming a further education teacher. This can include teaching A-levels, diplomas, apprenticeships, or other programs for students over the age of 16.

You may need a degree in your subject specialism if you’re teaching a more traditionally academic subject, or enough relevant experience working in your field if you’re teaching something more vocational, like mechanics, animal care or construction.

Average annual salary in the UK: £26,090–£39,347

4. Teaching assistant

Perhaps you’re not sure if you’re suited to leading a classroom, but you still want to help students one-on-one with their learning and development. If that’s the case for you, a teaching assistant is a great entry-level role to get into, and you can always become a fully fledged teacher at a later date if you desire it.

Teaching assistants support students who need extra help during lessons, and also assist teachers with lesson planning and teaching. While some teaching assistants work closely with certain children, they normally move around the class to offer support to everyone.

Average annual salary in the UK: £31,992

5. Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher

If you’re passionate about helping children with complex needs, and perhaps have an interest in psychology, you should consider becoming an SEN teacher. This could involve working with children who are autistic, or those with ADHD or other learning difficulties, but it could also include helping children who are deaf, blind, or struggle with speech. You may also support students who have emotional or mental health difficulties.

Your day-to-day might involve using specialist skills like sign language or braille, assessing the specific needs of individual children, adapting conventional teaching methods, and talking to parents about managing their child’s learning and behaviour.

Average annual salary in the UK: £37,449

6. Early years teacher

Working with very young children in a nursery or preschool, early years teachers are creative, imaginative and patient individuals. They aid the development of children ages 0-5 in their language development, social skills, physical coordination, learning abilities and more, using a combination of techniques like lessons, storytelling, playtime and games.

So if you want to play an important role in childrens’ early development and prepare them for future schooling, this could be a great choice.

Average annual salary in the UK: £28,662

Non-teaching jobs with a teaching degree  

Passionate about education but not convinced you want to be a teacher? This list of potential career options might give you some alternative ideas where you can still make the most of all the skills you’ll develop on a teaching degree. 

1. School inspector

If you want to make sure that schools are meeting certain standards and expectations, you could take on the important role of school inspector. You’ll visit different institutions and evaluate them for teaching quality, student performance and satisfaction, and much more.

It may be a high pressure role, but it’s also very varied and an essential part of ensuring schools run as they should. So, if you’re responsible, detail-oriented and passionate about good quality schools, this is a great option.

Average annual salary in the UK: £35,132

2. Educational psychologist

Perhaps you’re already a psychologist, or a teacher, but you’re looking for something that combines both fields? Educational psychologists work with people to identify and deal with a wide range of learning, behavioural and emotional challenges.

So, if you want to help students with educational needs, but on a one-to-one basis and with more of a psychological focus, this could be a fascinating and impactful career for you.

Average annual salary in the UK: £47,757

3. Careers advisor

A great option for those with a broad range of career experience, career advisors specialise in helping students make decisions about their future, offering guidance on education, development and work opportunities. 

So if you’ve got a lot of knowledge to share, enjoy helping others and would like to work with a wide range of students, becoming a careers advisor could be a great choice. Bonus points if you’re skilled at writing CVs, cover letters and university applications!

Average annual salary in the UK: £26,461

4. Play therapist

Interested in how play can positively impact a child’s self-expression, emotional regulation and learning development? Play therapists usually work with young children, using play to help address any concerns or challenges that parents may have about their child. 

So if you’re kind and creative, with an interest in psychology and love of working with kids, this could be a fascinating and rewarding route to go down.

Average annual salary in the UK: £37,539

5. Education policy and campaigns officer

Perhaps you’re still passionate about education, but your skills and interests lie more in areas such as research, advocacy and stakeholder management. In that case, you can make a difference to the lives of students from the outside, and shape essential educational policies.

Becoming an education policy and campaigns officer will give you the chance to examine existing policies, draft new legislation, and work on exciting campaigns to influence the education system.

Average annual salary in the UK: £37,222

6. Social worker

A challenging but deeply important role, social workers offer support, guidance and solutions to individuals and families facing a number of issues at home. This could include anything from poverty to abuse, so it’s a great career for someone resilient and empathetic. 

Social workers often work with schools when teachers have concerns about a student’s development, safety or living conditions, so you’ll be sure to put your educational knowledge to good use.

Average annual salary in the UK: £39,782

Other industries you can work in with a teaching degree

As we’ve previously mentioned, you learn a lot of transferable skills on a teaching degree. This includes communication skills, conflict resolution, planning and organisation skills, and emotional intelligence, just to name a few. 

So, it’s unsurprising that a teaching degree places you in great stead to succeed in many industries outside of education. Take a look at some of your options below.

• Marketing
• Human Resources
• Politics
• Journalism
• Local government
• Civil service
• Interpretation and translation.

How to get a teaching degree

For traditional on-campus degree programs at undergraduate level, you need to submit an application through UCAS with your top university choices. If you’re looking at postgraduate degrees however, you’ll most likely need to apply directly with the university.

You’ll need to write a personal statement detailing your experience, passion and ambition in order to get an offer, though you may also need to meet specific academic requirements to be accepted.

How to get an online teaching degree

However, you may already be in full-time employment, and can’t afford the time or financial commitment of going off to university. Lucky for you, online teaching degrees are much more flexible and enable you to study a degree in your own time, from wherever suits you.

If you’re already an educational practitioner, we have some great postgraduate courses on FutureLearn. From degrees in educational leadership to online education, there’s plenty to explore below.

Career progression with a teaching degree

If you’re wondering about your prospects after finishing an education degree, things are looking pretty positive. A promising 63% of education graduates work in the field of education within 15 months of graduating, which includes 35% working as teachers and 16% working in teaching and childcare support roles.

Many recent graduates also go on to pursue further education — in the true spirit of those dedicated to teaching and learning.

Why get a teaching degree?

Now you know about some of the exciting careers you could pursue with a teaching degree, including their salaries. However, if you’re still unsure whether to apply for a teaching degree, let’s go back to basics and sum up all of the reasons why a teaching degree could be a fantastic opportunity for you to level up your career.

• Make a difference. Whatever career you end up in, the skills you learn on a teaching degree enable you to help people in a number of ways, so you can make a real impact through your work, in an educational setting or otherwise.
• Be high in demand. Due to teacher shortages across the UK, teachers are very high in demand at the moment, which should increase your chances for stable employment.
• Feel satisfied with your degree. In the UCAS subject survey 2023, 80% of students studying teaching said they would recommend the subject to others.
• Network with educators. You’ll get the opportunity to work and collaborate with teachers, researchers and other experts in the field of education.
• Commit to lifelong learning. In the educational landscape, there is always something new to learn, whether that’s a new theory, teaching approach, or educational policy.