Lecturer (further education)

Further education lecturer job description: Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills | Useful links | Find jobs and courses

Typical responsibilities of the job include:

• lesson planning, preparation and research
• contact/teaching time with pupils
• checking and assessing pupils' work
• encouraging personal development via tutorial/pastoral work
• invigilating examinations
• arranging work experience placements
• attending staff meetings
• liaising with other professionals/employers.

The job commonly requires working evenings and weekends.

Typical employers of further education lecturers

• state-maintained and private sixth-form colleges
• adult and further education colleges
• the Armed Forces
• the Prison Service.

Teaching vacancies are advertised in local authority jobs lists, TARGETcourses Teaching, Appointments for Teachers, the Times Educational Supplement, the Times Higher Education Supplement and national, regional and local newspapers. A few specialist recruitment agencies also handle vacancies. Many people begin by part-time teaching and temporary contracts, enhancing their salary with writing, private tuition and exam marking.

Qualifications and training required

The minimum academic requirement for entry into further education teaching is a degree that is relevant to the subject taught, although in reality only a small number of people become FE lecturers immediately after graduating. Most FE lecturers gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) via a secondary education level postgraduate certificate in education or are mature candidates who have several years' pertinent work experience.

Alternatively, a number of institutions offer specialist postgraduate FE teaching qualifications. The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education publishes a list of qualifications in their booklet Training to Teach in Further Education. Some employers provide the opportunity to gain a teaching qualification via part-time study once in post.

Key skills for further education lecturers

• ability to work well with a range of people
• organisation skills
• teamwork
• expertise in a particular subject area or areas
• excellent written and verbal communication skills
• excellent presentation skills