All candidates for initial teacher training are required to have the equivalent of a GCSE in Maths and English. You may be a native speaker of languages other than French, German or Spanish as long as you are competent in one of these languages in addition to English. Qualified Teacher Status Most routes into the profession are for people who already have a university degree, either from their home country or from a UK university. The PGCE is the most common route into the profession. During this one-year course, you spend 12 weeks at a university or other higher education institution and 24 weeks on teaching placements in two different schools.
Courses are available at a large number of universities and other higher education institutions.
The PGCE offers a phased transition into professional life. In some institutions PGCEs may be studied part-time or by distance learning. You spend seven months studying at an English university or higher education institution and on school placement in England, and four months in a French university. Only a very small proportion of higher education institutions offer this qualification. The latter qualifies you to teach lower secondary-school classes in Austria.