Education

Studying a degree in education directly prepares you for a range of careers working with children and young people

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Community education officer
• Early years teacher
• Education administrator
• Education consultant
• Education mental health practitioner
• English as a foreign language teacher
• Further education teacher
• Learning mentor
• Primary school teacher
• Secondary school teacher
• Special educational needs coordinator (SENCO)
• Special educational needs teacher
• Teaching assistant

Jobs where your degree would be useful:

• Careers adviser
• Child psychotherapist
• Counsellor
• Educational psychologist
• Family support worker
• Health play specialist
• Museum education officer
• Play therapist
• Private tutor
• 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.

Work experience

The type of work experience you'll need will depend on the career path you want to take. For example, if you want to complete a postgraduate teacher training qualification, you'll need to have experience of working with children, preferably in a school environment. This will show that you understand the 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.

If you want to work in another area of education, there are many types of work experience available. For example, you could volunteer at a local education, sports, community or youth centre to gain some experience of working with children and organising group activities. It may also help you increase your knowledge of educational issues. You could also become a private tutor or volunteer at playgroups and summer camps.

If you decide to move away from a career in education, think about what areas of work interest you and use tools such as Job Match to help you decide what type of career you'd be suited to. Then try to match potential work experience opportunities to that role.

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.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

If you're working in a maintained school, your employer will often be your local authority. However, in other types of schools the employer is often the school itself, e.g. academies, free schools or independent schools. You'll also be employed directly by the institution if you work for a college. Discover how to get a teaching job.

Other employers include:

• central government departments
• community and voluntary organisations
• museums
• the police and probation services
• social services
• universities.

Find out more about jobs in education.

There are also 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 information on employers in teacher training and education, charity and voluntary work, social care and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Studying education develops specific skills relating to a range of educational topics. These include theories of learning, equality and diversity, education policy and practice, and creativity and education.

Your degree will also provide you with a good 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'll also gain the following transferable skills, which are useful to employers in a variety of job sectors:

• excellent communication skills - essential for effectively presenting information to learners
• IT skills - needed for researching teaching resources and preparing materials and for communication within the education setting and with external contacts
• research and analytical skills
• interpersonal skills - working collaboratively as part of a team
• effective problem-solving skills
• organisation and time-management skills - essential for managing a teaching workload and getting planning and marking done on time
• self-management - helping you to work effectively and reflect on your personal practice and make improvements.

If you want to work in secondary education discover the essential skills for a secondary school teacher.

Further study

Achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through completion of a postgraduate teacher training 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, skills and practice. Some education graduates go on to study for a PhD in education.

Other options are qualifications that match to certain jobs, such as the Masters in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) or counselling, social work or psychology qualifications.

Find out more information about routes into teaching and about options for further study by searching for postgraduate courses in education.

What do education graduates do?

The top ten jobs reported by education graduates include primary education teaching professionals (23%), early education and childcare practitioners (8%), educational support assistants (8%), teaching assistants (6%), early education and childcare assistants (3%), special and additional needs education teaching professionals (2%), teaching professionals (3%), higher level teaching assistants (3%), child and early years officers (3%), and secondary education teaching professionals (3%).

Find out what other education graduates are doing 15 months after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.