Teacher - Secondary School
Make a real difference in the lives of young people aged 11 to 18. Help them get the knowledge, skills and attributes they'll need for a successful and positive life.
About the job
What it's like
As a secondary school teacher, you can be a hugely positive influence in young people's lives. You'll inspire and motivate young people to learn. You'll give them the tools to become successful learners and confident individuals.
You'll specialise in one or two subjects and teach these to students of different ages and abilities. You’ll prepare young people to take qualifications, such as National 5s or Highers. You'll use national guidance for Curriculum for Excellence and National Qualifications to plan your teaching.
Your tasks might include:
preparing lessons and teaching materials
delivering lessons
assessing students’ progress and marking their work
managing classroom behaviour
discussing students' progress with parents and carers
organising study trips, social activities and sports events
You’ll encourage the students to take pride in their achievements inside and outside school. You’ll support them to build good relationships with other students and teachers and play a positive part in the life of the school and the local community.
You’ll need to attend meetings and training courses. You’ll work closely with colleagues to plan the school’s timetables, and work with other professionals, such as education psychologists and social workers.
Hours
Teaching takes place for 39 weeks a year, from Monday to Friday.
You'll spend several more hours outside of teaching time, to plan lessons, mark pupils' work, do training, run parents' evenings and take part in sports days or outings.
Environment
You'll teach young people from 11 to 18 years old, in state or independent schools, or a college or learning centre.
Secondary school teachers often have a base classroom, but you could also teach in a variety of classrooms.
Travel
You could do supply teaching, where you work in different schools for short periods, to cover the absences of permanent teachers.
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Related industries
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Top specialised skills
These are the top specialised skills that have been found in job vacancies across Scotland. From March 2024 to March 2025.
- curriculum development
- continuous improvement process
- working with children
- physical education
- christian education
- biology
- family and consumer sciences
- mathematics education
- physics
- design and technology
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- motivating others
- mentoring
- coaching
- ethical
- social conscience
- respecting
- empathising
- written communication
- verbal communication
- supporting
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Modern Languages
French
Gaelic (Learners)
German
History
Religious Moral and Philosophical Studies - RMPS
Spanish
To teach in a state secondary school in Scotland, you must have:
completed a four-year undergraduate course in Education or
completed an undergraduate course then a one-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) or
achieved the equivalent qualification outside Scotland
If you're applying for a PGDE you'll need good academic grades and a degree.
You'll support literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing alongside the subject or subjects you teach. There are access courses, such as these courses from the University of Aberdeen, that you can complete online to help you do this.
Find out more about what you'll need at Teach in Scotland or The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC Scotland).
Qualifications and experience that show:
the ability to work with children or young people
communication skills
experience related to the subject or subjects you wish to teach
To be approved for membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme run by Disclosure Scotland.
Once you're qualified and want to teach in local council schools, you must complete a probationary period to demonstrate that you meet the Standard for Full Registration of GTC Scotland.
To help all pupils to be motivated to study, you’ll need to be imaginative and enthusiastic to keep them interested.
Sometimes you'll need to deal with challenging behaviour – your training will help you develop skills for this.
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