Annual Salary
£32,000 to £49,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Beauty & makeup or Hair or go back to all job sectors
Special educational needs (SEN) teachers work with children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings; occasionally
There will be
4.3% more Special educational needs (SEN) teacher jobs in 2027.
In this role you could:
You could work at a school, at a special needs school or at a pupil referral unit.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You can get into this job through:
Most teaching courses include options on teaching children with special educational needs.
Undergraduate degree
You can do an undergraduate degree that leads to qualified teacher status (QTS), for example:
Postgraduate certificate
If you already have a bachelor's degree without qualified teacher status, you can complete a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). This is a common choice and can be done at university or through a training programme based in a school.
More teacher training options
There are more training options if you want to change career or specialise in teaching certain subjects.
You'll usually need:
You can do a degree level teaching apprenticeship if you have a degree.
You'll usually need:
You could start as a teaching assistant and do a part time degree. You could then move onto a postgraduate teaching course to qualify as a teacher.
You'll find it helpful to get some experience of working with young people with special educational needs or disabilities.
You could volunteer at a school or work at a youth club or on a holiday scheme.
You can also find volunteering opportunities through Do IT.
If you're a qualified teacher, you can get extra training to teach students with special educational needs. You can find a course through your local education authority.
Many local education authorities offer courses for teachers who want to do this.
You'll need to:
You can attend a Get Into Teaching event before you apply to get advice about teaching, funding and the different training routes available. You can attend events in person and online.
You could become a member of the National Association for Special Educational Needs to help with professional development.
You can find out more about teaching students with special educational needs from Get Into Teaching and the National Association for Special Educational Needs.
You can also search for jobs through the Teaching Vacancies service.
With experience you could:become a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and manage the special educational needs strategy at a school; move into management roles like head of department, key stage co-ordinator, deputy head or headteacher; use your specialist skills and knowledge and become a special needs assessment officer at a local council; become a higher education lecturer; move into teacher training, private training or tutoring
You'll need: