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How do you become a Citizenship teacher?

There are different routes you can take to become a trained citizenship specialist teacher, so let us guide you.

Citizenship Teacher Training

Deciding to train to become a teacher is a big step. We’ll do what we can to help you. Most schools in England require  Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). A popular route is to train and achieve QTS is to do a degree in a subject related to what you want to teach (for citizenship this includes politics, history, philosophy, economics, law and other social science subjects) and then complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). 

Pathways to train as Citizenship teacher

There are a number of routes to train to become a Citizenship teacher, but these sit within these two main approaches:

  • PGCE University-led: A course led by a university requires trainees to pay tuition fees for their PGCE courses, which feature two major placements at partner schools. The following universities offer a PGCE course in Citizenship: Bishop Grosseteste University; Bradford College; Kingston University, London; Sheffield Hallam University; University College London (UCL).
  • School-led: This route is available as a teacher-training course and enables graduates to undertake their training within a school environment and achieve QTS. There are a few different models and sometimes trainees are paid a salary. Depending on the provider and their awarding body, some participants may also achieve a PGCE qualification.

Other ways you can get into teaching

  1. Explore the way you can train as a citizenship teacher by visiting the Get Into Teaching website.
  2. Search for post graduate training courses in citizenship across the country on the government website.
  3. Consider sources of funding designed to help trainees manage the finances to pay for their training fees.

“Schools need brilliant Citizenship teachers to teach young people about all aspects of democratic and civic life and how to become responsible, active and rights respecting citizens.”

Get Into Teaching

Special offer for trainee teachers and ECTs

To support trainee teachers or those completing their early careers framework (ETF) we are offering you a special deal. As you are the future of the Citizenship subject community (and our membership!), we are offering you 2 years for the price of 1 to help you out. Regardless of whether you are going down the SCITT or university-led approach, contact us and we'll provide you with a unique discount code.

Claim your 2-for-1 offer here