Hi there,

It is great that you are interested in becoming a teacher. Teaching can be a rewarding career, and it requires an honours degree to then go onto the Initial Teacher Training, or PGCE, programme. We have some useful information in our 'Becoming a Teacher' booklet that can be found on this page:

https://www.open.ac.uk/courses/careers/teaching

If your previous study at Higher Education was within the last 16 years, you can apply for a Credit Transfer. 

It’s free to apply for credit transfer and you are under no obligation to study with us. Nothing is taken away from your previous study – the purpose of credit transfer is simply to reduce the amount of time it will take you to gain a qualification and reduce the overall cost. Once your application has been assessed we can help you to plan which modules you need to complete your studies. Assessments normally take around 6-8 weeks, so we recommend that you apply as soon as possible.

For more information, including how to check whether your previous study is eligible, how many credits can be transferred towards your qualification, and how to apply, you can take a look at the Credit Transfer website:

http://www.open.ac.uk/study/credit-transfer

My understanding is that if you are planning to teach at the secondary school level, then your honours degree should be in the same subject that you intend to teach. For primary school teaching, it is generally recommended to have your honours degree in education, or a national curriculum subject. It may be a good idea to get careers advice, and there are some useful links is this page from our Help Centre:

https://help.open.ac.uk/how-do-i-become-a

There are also a couple of pages from the Prospects website that you may be interested in checking out:

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/primary-school-teacher

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/secondary-school-teacher