school experience

Spending time in a classroom is the ideal way to strengthen your application for teacher training. School experience gives you the chance to watch lessons and see for yourself what it's really like to be a teacher – and allows you to draw on your own examples in your application and interview.

Important: It is not mandatory to have school experience prior to applying to become a teacher. However, it is undoubtedly a useful tool in helping you make the right decision and will form part of your overall development as a trainee should you be successful.

What can I expect?
Throughout your placement, you'll have the opportunity to observe teaching and pastoral work and to talk to teachers about day-to-day life in a school. You should get the chance to see a range of different lessons and age groups being taught – but if you have any specific requests, you can talk to your school about accommodating these. For instance, if you already have experience of observing lessons with younger secondary students, you might want to focus more on lessons with an older age group.  

How to take part
Once you’ve registered with Get into Teaching, you’ll be able to book school experience online through the School Experience Programme. Simply follow the link from your personalised checklist.  ​If you’ve already registered, log in to your checklist to book school experience through the online portal.