Annual Salary
£33,000 to £55,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Higher education (HE) lecturers research and teach academic and vocational subjects at universities and higher education colleges.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings; flexibly
There will be
4.3% more Higher education lecturer jobs in 2027.
In this job, you will:
You could work at a university or at a college.
You can get into this job through:
You'll usually need a first class or upper second class degree, relevant to the subject you want to teach.
You'll also need to have completed a postgraduate master's or PhD qualification, or be working towards one. It's common to have had academic work published.
You'll be expected to do a teaching qualification soon after you start. This is normally offered by your university and is done while working.
You may be able to get experience by taking on teaching duties while you're a postgraduate student. Some universities also offer posts as a graduate teaching assistant.
You'll need several years' relevant work experience if you want to teach vocational subjects, for example art or engineering.
You'll usually need:
You may be able to do an Academic Professional Level 7 Apprenticeship, which is equivalent to postgraduate study.
You can specialise in teaching or research.
To apply, you'll normally need a minimum of a postgraduate qualification in your subject area, or several years' equivalent work experience, plus the agreement of your employer.
It can take between 18 and 24 months to complete.
You'll need to:
You can find out more about working in higher education from Advance HE.
After 5 to 7 years you could move up to senior lecturer. You could then become a programme lead, reader or professor.
You could apply for Advance HE Fellowship, which recognises your skills and expertise. There are different grades depending on your experience.
Competition for jobs is strong and promotion depends on how well you perform. You may need to move to another university to take up a teaching or research post.
You'll need: