School Experience
You can visit schools to get unpaid experience in the classroom before you start your initial teacher training (ITT).
It can help you:
- decide if you want to train to be a teacher
- discover if you’d like to teach in a primary or secondary school
- build a relationship with a school you might want to work for later
Your experience will either be in a school or joining classes and meeting teachers online. Placements usually last one or 2 days, but some can last up to 3 weeks.
During your experience, you’ll get to do things like:
- observe lessons
- see how teachers manage a classroom
- find out how specific subjects are taught
- speak to teachers and meet pupils
- learn more about teacher training - including the application and interview process
- Useful Websites
Use the DfE ‘Get School Experience’ service to search for and request experience in England. If you enter your postcode you can find schools in your area that offer placements. You can filter these by the subject and age group you’re looking to teach. It also tells you whether the type of experience available is in-school, virtual or both.
Once you’ve chosen a school, you can get more information about their placement availability and any requirements they may have. Some schools may charge fees to cover their costs and you may need to have a DBS check.