What about Teach First?

Teach First’s vision is that no child’s educational success should be limited by their socio-economic background and it places highly motivated graduates in schools in areas of greatest need.

Teach First differs from other routes into teaching in a number of ways. It describes itself as a ‘two-year leadership development programme’ rather than a teacher training programme and it recruits on a rolling basis, so it is worth getting an application in early, especially for popular subjects like history. You can first apply in June (the start of the recruitment year) in order to start the programme in the September of the following year. It is also possible to apply for a deferred place.

Who is eligible for the Teach First Programme?

For Primary and Early Years teaching, a 2.1 degree or above in one of the following national curriculum subjects is required:

• Design and Technology
• English
• Geography
• history
• Computer Science
• Maths
• Modern Foreign Languages (French or Spanish)
• Other languages (DEGREE ONLY*)
• Music
• Religious Education/ Philosophy
• Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)
• Classics (DEGREE ONLY*)
• PE/Sports Science (DEGREE ONLY)
• Art/history of Art.

or an A-level grade B or above (or equivalent) in two of these subjects. If you have a Psychology degree (2.1 or above) you will also be eligible to teach in a primary school.

How does the application process work?

The application and selection process is described here (Teach First website). 

The first stage of the application process involves completing an on-line form which checks your qualifications and assesses you against various competencies. This application is reviewed by two separate members of the recruitment team, and if you are successful at this stage you are invited to attend an Assessment Centre. This is a rigorous one day process, involving a competency based interview (one-on-one) , a case study (group exercise followed by one-on-one self-evaluation) and a sample teaching lesson (a pre-prepared seven minute lesson followed by a written self-evaluation).

You will hear very quickly if you have been successful at the Assessment Centre and you will be made an offer of a place, conditional on passing the QTS professional skills test, provision of a satisfactory reference and successful completion of a Curriculum Knowledge Audit (CKA). The CKA is submitted to a tutor at one of the university partners, who may accept it outright, ask for a review or reject it. If your CKA is rejected, the offer of a place is withdrawn, so you need to be aware that this is an important part of the process.

What happens then?

You will be asked to prepare yourself for the Summer Institute in various ways. You will have to complete Participant Preparation Work (PPW) which involves spending time in a school, observing teaching and completing various reflective activities; you will have been given advice from the CKA reviewer on reading both about the pedagogy of history teaching and about filling in any gaps in your curriculum knowledge; one of the important pieces of advice will be to join the community of history teachers through the Historical Association. 

Finally, at the beginning of the July before you start teaching you will attend the Summer Institute. Currently this involves spending four weeks in your local area, including time in the school you have been allocated, learning how to teach your subject and about how to fulfil the many other requirements of becoming a successful teacher in a challenging context, followed by two weeks in Leeds where the whole cohort come together for subject days, professional studies, conference days and an intercohort event where you can benefit from the experience of the previous year’s intake, and make contacts to help you throughout your first year and beyond. The Summer Institute isn’t paid, but accommodation and food are provided and some funds are available in cases of hardship.