Education Alternatives
Education Alternatives
About
If you’re interested in a career in education outside of a mainstream school, there are a wide range of options to consider.
There are opportunities to teach in alternative settings such as private tutoring or teaching in prisons, and there are non-teaching roles in education, including training adults or supporting children and young people. See Roles and Skills for more information on the types of roles that are available.
Careers Advice
- Prospects – Jobs in Education
- TargetJobs – What else can I do with an education or teaching degree?
- AGCAS – Education Alternatives
Industry News
- Guardian Education - teaching and education sector news.
- Times Educational Supplement – education news.
- Children and Young People Now – news for professionals working with children, young people and families.
- AGCAS – aimed at careers professionals.
- TrainingZone – training and development sector news.
Professional bodies
These represent people working in related sectors, providing training and networking opportunities. They often provide careers support for students and graduates.
They also provide development for people already working in the sector. Follow them on LinkedIn, or visit their websites for news, contacts, work experience and vacancies.
The websites listed below are an example of some of the professional bodies in the education and training sector.
- Society for Education and Training
- Career Development Institute (CDI)
- The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)
- Institute for Youth Work (IFY)
- Institute of Training and Occupational Learning (ITOL)
- Group for Education in Museums
Making contacts
Making contacts is important for success in this sector. Many jobs come through networking and speculative applications. You could start with:
- social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, which is useful for making contacts, finding employers and opportunities.
- Newcastle alumni on LinkedIn – find out what they did after graduation and contact them for advice and inspiration
Events
Recruitment fairs, open days, talks and events give insights and opportunities to make contacts. Regular events organised by the Careers Service include Employer & Sector Insights and Recruitment Events.
Related sectors
You may also be interested in:
- teaching in Schools
- teaching in FE/HE
- teaching English as a foreign language
- community, advice and guidance
- HR, recruitment and training
- museums, galleries and archaeology
See our Explore Occupations pages for more options.
Roles and Skills
While some roles may require a teaching qualification and teaching experience, there are roles in education that you can enter without previous experience, with opportunities to gain professional qualifications whilst working.
The following job profiles include descriptions of typical duties and entry requirements.
Teaching roles outside of mainstream schools
Non-teaching roles in education
- Education administrator
- Education consultant
- Ofsted inspector
- School business manager
- Special educational needs coordinator (SENCO)
- Teaching assistant
Adult and community education
- Community education officer
- Adult education lecturer
- Prison Instructor
- Museum education officer
- Environmental education officer
- Community arts worker
Outdoor and sport education
Early years provision
Supporting children and young people
Careers and educational guidance
Training and development
Healthcare
Skills employers look for
Skills required vary according to the specific role but the skills most employers in this sector look for include:
- excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to relate to people from diverse backgrounds
- empathy, diplomacy, sensitivity and a non-judgmental manner as well as a respect for confidentiality
- flexibility, with the ability to work on your own initiative as well as part of a team
- resourcefulness, problem-solving skills and attention to detail
- the capacity to cope with pressure
- the ability to liaise with other professionals and organisations
Gaining Experience
Some paid work experience opportunities are available. Volunteering is also a common route to gaining experience.
Work experience will allow you to develop new skills, build contacts and demonstrate your motivation and commitment to the sector.
Many work experience opportunities are not advertised. Consider contacting companies and organisations speculatively. If you can’t find any paid work experience you may be able to arrange volunteer work or work shadowing.
Advertised opportunities
- Search for vacancies on My Career - look for paid part time roles such as mentor or student note taker
- Careers Service: Internships, placements & shadowing
- NUSU Volunteering - voluntary projects for Newcastle students, both long-term and one-off
- Do-it.life – a database of national voluntary opportunities
National Citizen Service offer paid summer opportunities to work on their 3-4 week residential programmes for young people in the UK.
Finding experience in the North East
- Find companies on MyCareer - click ‘Search' then 'Organisations’ to find companies the Careers Service has worked with. Can filter by keyword, sector and region.
- NE Youth run youth work programmes across the North East and have volunteer and paid opportunities
You may find information about relevant work experience in the following Explore Occupations pages:
- Community, Advice and Guidance
- HR, Recruitment and Training
- Museums, Galleries and Archaeology
- Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Finding Jobs
Use the following resources to find advertised vacancies and research employers for speculative applications.
Advertised vacancies
Find advertised vacancies onMyCareer - our vacancies database, with employers targeting Newcastle University students and graduates.
Teaching roles outside of mainstream schools
Private and online tutoring
Teaching English as a foreign or second language
- See the Careers Service’s TEFL Finding Jobs page for a list of job vacancy websites
Adult and community education
- Association of Colleges (AoC)
- Times Educational Supplement (TES) Jobs
- Workers Educational Association (WEA)
Outdoor activities instruction
Prison education
Museum education
Non-teaching education roles
Supporting children and young people
Careers and educational guidance
- Association for Guidance and Careers Advisory Services
- Career Development Institute
- Jobs.ac.uk – jobs in university careers services
Training and development
Specialist recruitment agencies
Recruitment agencies often advertise graduate and entry-level positions. They also have a wealth of industry knowledge.
Protocol offer national adult teaching, training and tutoring and prison teaching roles.
In the North East
PK Education recruit for education support roles and outdoor education instructors.
Finding opportunities
Not all opportunities are advertised. You could also approach organisations or find work through networking in the sector.
Find organisations that interest you and get in touch, always with a named contact. Be specific about why you are writing to them and what you’re looking for.
Show your enthusiasm for the sector and highlight any relevant skills. Don’t give up if you don’t get a reply – follow up with a phone call or email to show that you’re keen.
Try the following sites to find organisations to approach:
In the North East
- Newcastle Support Directory has details of education, community learning and support services in Newcastle
UK wide
- Youth Access has a directory of support services for young people.
- Find companies on MyCareer - click ‘Search' then 'Organisations’ to find companies the Careers Service has worked with. Can filter by keyword, sector and region.
- Yell.com - online business directory – try using keywords such as ‘training services’
- search on LinkedIn to find companies in your region and sector
Work for Yourself
Being self-employed is relatively common for some roles in the education and training sector.
Private and online tutors are often self-employed, finding work through an agency or online platform.
See Finding Jobs for vacancy websites.
START UP provide information on information, activities and support for eligible Newcastle students and graduates interested in self-employment.
COBRA provides factsheets and reports on starting up and running a business or working for yourself. COBRA can only be accessed through a University computer on the Newcastle campus.
Prospects gives advice on being self-employed.