How to Become an FE history teacher

Further education (FE) history teachers will be expected to demonstrate their enthusiasm for history in the classroom and convey this to their students. Within this role, you will be expected to show your commitment to high-quality learning, inspiring and motivating students. Understanding history can help students get to grips with the events of the present. As such, the role of the FE history teacher is varied and places an emphasis on discussion, debate, reading and research.

Two of the best sixth form colleges in the UK — Hills Road in Cambridge and Greenhead College in Huddersfield — offer history courses, with the former offering students the chance to study three history courses: History — Crisis, Conflict and Communism; History — Rights, Race and Revolution; History of Art.

The prospectus at Greenhead College underlines why history should be an easy sell to students: “If you too are fascinated about the world around us, and wish to gain a deeper understanding of social, political and economic change across these periods, then choose this subject as one of your A Levels. History provides you with the contextual knowledge to make sense of today’s world.”

It continues to state that learners have the opportunity “to study topics as diverse as Ancient Greece and Rome, the Vikings, Archaeology, the Tudors, the English Civil War”, underlining the depth and breadth of the subject at FE level and emphasising why it is such a popular course to teach.

As the government’s website states: “Teaching [history] should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement.” As an FE history teacher, it is incumbent on your role to help students “to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time”.

What qualifications do I need to teach FE history?

You will usually need a degree in history before teaching it at FE level. However, don’t be put off if you don’t have a degree as you can also take a Cert Ed (Certificate in Education) which meets the Level 5 requirements. To pursue this route, you'll need a Level 3 qualification in history.

The 10 best universities in the UK in terms of history course, according to The Guardian, are as follows:

St Andrews
Oxford
Cambridge
Durham
London School of Economics
Suffolk
UCL
Warwick
Bournemouth
University of East Anglia

What skills are needed to teach FE history?

Trainee history teachers will learn the relevant skills needed to enhance student’s understanding of British and world history, as well as the current world climate. Students will be judged on their analysis of historical sources and essay writing skills and you’ll engage with them to deliver greater depth and precision to their investigations.

As with any FE teaching role, an FE history teacher will be expected to have excellent communication and the ability to work as part of a team. Interpersonal skills and the enthusiasm and motivation required to teach a post-16 age group will be looked upon favourably. An in-depth knowledge of your subject is crucial and will help separate you from your peers.

In an anonymous diary of first day teaching experiences for the Association of Colleges, our new teacher explains that if they could do one thing differently, it would be to be better prepared for lessons, making them more precise.

They stress they’re “not there to baby-sit students” and it should be borne in mind that there should be a more mature relationship in FE when compared with secondary school teaching. “Here [in FE] I wasn’t expecting to shout, or tell students off for doing something wrong, but to share a mutual understanding of behaviour standards,” They explain. “Because I’m new this term, some students will challenge me.”

What salary can FE history teachers earn?

Salaries for the role of history teacher range from £32,431 at the low end to £44,850 for the most experienced teachers. The median salary comes in at £36,153 per year in the UK, according to Talent.com, which is slightly higher than the median annual pay for full-time employees (£33,000) for the tax year ending on April 5, 2022.