Further education (FE) is part of the publicly-funded Learning and Skills sector. It includes general FE colleges, tertiary colleges, sixth form colleges, adult education institutes and specialist colleges (e.g. for agriculture or drama and dance).

Teaching qualifications in FE

New or unqualified teachers:
All new and unqualified teachers, trainers and tutors in England in this sector, which includes adult education, whether full or part- time, and whether they hold a full or associate role, are required to take qualifications which form part of the Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) framework. QTLS status (or ATLS if associate) must be achieved within five years. You can find out more here. The qualification (usually PTLLS and DTLLS) covers both taught and practical skills. Your local FE college or university probably offers these qualifications, and will certainly be able to tell you where you can do them. Teachers must also register with IfL, the professional body for teachers in FE, and undertake 30 hours of professional development per year.

Read a case study about the Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) qualification at London's City Lit centre for adult learning. 

Qualified teachers:
If you already have teaching qualifications, you can check how they map to the QTLS framework by looking at the tariff of qualifications; for individual qualifications, look here.

Working in FE

Further education teachers work in a variety of learning environments: colleges, community centres, work places and even prisons. Their learners are mainly over the age of 16, but may also include young people aged 14-16 doing work-related subjects. Teachers may have a full or associate teaching role. Contacts may be full or part-time, and temporary or hourly-paid contracts are quite common.

Since June 2009, the sector has been overseen by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; but education and training for 14-19 year olds, falls within the Department for Education. The trade unions for teachers in FE are the University and College Union and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.