The skills and experience you develop during your education degree prepare you for a range of careers working with children and young people
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
- Community education officer
- Early years teacher
- Education administrator
- English as a foreign language teacher
- Further education teacher
- Learning mentor
- Primary school teacher
- Secondary school teacher
- Special educational needs teacher
- Teaching assistant
Jobs where your degree would be useful:
- Careers adviser
- Child psychotherapist
- Family support worker
- Health play specialist
- Museum education officer
- Play therapist
- Youth worker
Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.
If you want to do a PGCE or equivalent postgraduate qualification, you will need to have experience of working with children, preferably in a school environment. This will show that you understand the job role and are committed to a teaching career. Contact schools directly to ask for work experience or to observe classes or shadow teachers. Find out more about volunteering in schools. Volunteering to help out at a local education, sports, community or youth centre is also a good way to gain some experience around educational issues.
If you want to move away from a career in education, think about what areas of work interest you and look out for work placements and voluntary opportunities advertised via your university career service, on company websites and through the specialist press. Use these opportunities to discover whether you suit the work and to build up a network of contacts. Work shadowing is another useful way of finding out about a particular career.
Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.
If you're working in a state-maintained school, your employer will often be your local authority. However, you may be employed directly by the school (for example, if you're working for an academy or free school). Graduates working in independent schools or colleges are also employed directly by the institution. Discover how to get a teaching job.
Other employers include:
- central government departments;
- community and voluntary organisations;
- the police and probation services;
- social services;
There are opportunities with both public and private sector employers in a range of careers such as HR, market and policy research, retail management, publishing, education psychology and careers guidance. Find out more about jobs in education.
Skills for your CV
You develop specific skills relating to educational issues, theories of learning, equality and diversity, education policy and practice, creativity and education, and a general understanding of education in social, political and economic contexts. Some courses include work placement modules, providing the opportunity to put theory into practice.
You also gain skills that are useful in a variety of job sectors:
- communication skills - presenting effective oral and written arguments;
- IT skills;
- research and analytical skills;
- interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team;
- problem-solving skills;
- organisation and time management skills - prioritising your academic/part-time workloads and delivering essays on time;
- self-management - planning your own workload and reflecting on and improving personal practice.
If you have teaching aspirations you'll need to prepare for and pass professional skills tests. If your sights are set on secondary education discover the essential skills for a secondary school teacher.
Achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through completion of the PGCE (PGDE in Scotland) or equivalent postgraduate qualification is a popular route for education graduates.
Alternatively, you may wish to take a Masters course in education or a related social science in order to develop your understanding of the theory, research and policy of education and to enhance your professional knowledge, ski