The skills and experience you develop during your education degree prepare you for a range of careers working with children and young people.
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
Jobs where your degree would be useful:
Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don’t restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.
Related case studies
Careers, employment and enterprise assistant
If you want to do a PGCE or equivalent postgraduate qualification, you will need to have experience of working with children, preferably in a school environment. This will show that you understand the job role and are committed to a teaching career. Contact schools directly to ask for work experience or to observe classes or shadow teachers. Volunteering to help out at a local education, sports, community or youth centre is a good way to gain some experience around educational issues.
If you want to move away from a career in education, think about what areas of work interest you and look out for work placements and voluntary opportunities advertised via your university career service, on company websites and through the specialist press. Use these opportunities to discover whether you suit the work and to build up a network of contacts. Work shadowing is another useful way of finding out about a particular career.
Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships .
The main employers of education graduates are usually local government education authorities as they have the responsibility for schools. Some education graduates may go on to work in colleges or for private schools where you will be employed directly by the institution. Central government departments and universities also employ education graduates to work in policy or research roles. Other employers include community and voluntary organisations, museums and the police and probation services.
Education graduates work for both public and private sector employers in a wide range of careers such as human resource management, speech therapy, market and policy research, retail management, education psychology and careers guidance.
Skills for your CV
During your education studies you develop specific skills surrounding educational issues, theories of learning, equality and diversity, education policy and practice, creativity and education, and a general understanding of education in social, political and economic contexts. Some courses include work placement modules, providing the opportunity to put theory into practice.
You also gain skills that are useful in a wide range of job sectors:
- communication skills – presenting effective oral and written arguments;
- ICT skills;
- research and analytical skills;
- interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team;
- problem-solving skills;
- organisation and time management skills – prioritising your academic/part-time workloads and delivering essays on time;
- self-management – planning your own workload and reflecting on and improving personal practice.
Achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through completion of the PGCE (PGDE in Scotland) or equivalent postgraduate qualification is a popular route for many education graduates.
Alternatively, you may wish to take a Masters course in education or a related social science in order to develop your understanding of the theory, research and policy of education and to enhance your professional knowledge, skills and practice. Some education graduates go on to study for a PhD in education. Another option is the MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
For more information on routes into teaching and to find a course that interests you, see teacher training and search postgraduate courses .
What do education graduates do?
More than three quarters of education graduates are in employment six months after graduation.
Two in five graduates employed in the UK are working as primary and nursery education teaching professionals. Eight of the top ten occupations are directly related to education, including teachers and teaching assistants.