Fitness To Teach

Hi,

I’ve been researching teacher training courses and found that you have to complete a compulsory ‘fitness to teach form’. You need to disclose all medical conditions and since I’m very overweight/obese, will this will affect my application or make me ‘unfit to teach’?

Thank you

Reply 1

SarcAndSpark

20

Hi

I've moved your thread to our teaching forum as you're more likely to get useful answers here.

The fitness to teach form is usually nothing to worry about- it's more about your health to enable the uni to support you. It is rare a health condition would prevent you from being able to teach but sometimes unis will ask you to come for further assessments (e.g. if you had a poorly controlled mental health condition which might be problematic in a school such as an eating disorder).

What subject/age group do you want to teach? I could only really see being overweight being a problem for PE- if you weren't able to demonstrate certain skills, for example.

Anyway, I seriously doubt your weight will be a problem, but if you are worried then do contact unis- I have found them to be really helpful with these sorts of queries when applying for PGCE courses!

Reply 2

peoplewhisper

OP

6

Thank you for replying,

I’m wanting to teach Primary School so will have to participate in PE but this doesn’t concern me too much, I was just panicking about the criteria of the fitness to teach form.

Thank you!

(Original post by SarcAndSpark)Hi

I've moved your thread to our teaching forum as you're more likely to get useful answers here.

The fitness to teach form is usually nothing to worry about- it's more about your health to enable the uni to support you. It is rare a health condition would prevent you from being able to teach but sometimes unis will ask you to come for further assessments (e.g. if you had a poorly controlled mental health condition which might be problematic in a school such as an eating disorder).

What subject/age group do you want to teach? I could only really see being overweight being a problem for PE- if you weren't able to demonstrate certain skills, for example.

Anyway, I seriously doubt your weight will be a problem, but if you are worried then do contact unis- I have found them to be really helpful with these sorts of queries when applying for PGCE courses!

Reply 3

SarcAndSpark

20

Original post by peoplewhisper

Thank you for replying,

I’m wanting to teach Primary School so will have to participate in PE but this doesn’t concern me too much, I was just panicking about the criteria of the fitness to teach form.

Thank you!

The form does vary from uni to uni, but mine seemed more interested in my mental health beyond fairly basic physical health issues- I don't think there are many things that would be barriers to teaching (there are a few conditions that might make you unsafe to be in charge of a class alone, for example, which might be a problem).

Usually, the uni just wants to be aware of things that might cause you to need extra support.

They aren't looking for a reason to reject you!

Reply 4

BigChubbs28

3

Hi, I’m just wondering how this went as I am in this situation now and wondering if you got cleared?

Original post by peoplewhisper

Thank you for replying,

I’m wanting to teach Primary School so will have to participate in PE but this doesn’t concern me too much, I was just panicking about the criteria of the fitness to teach form.

Thank you!

(Original post by SarcAndSpark)Hi

I've moved your thread to our teaching forum as you're more likely to get useful answers here.

The fitness to teach form is usually nothing to worry about- it's more about your health to enable the uni to support you. It is rare a health condition would prevent you from being able to teach but sometimes unis will ask you to come for further assessments (e.g. if you had a poorly controlled mental health condition which might be problematic in a school such as an eating disorder).

What subject/age group do you want to teach? I could only really see being overweight being a problem for PE- if you weren't able to demonstrate certain skills, for example.

Anyway, I seriously doubt your weight will be a problem, but if you are worried then do contact unis- I have found them to be really helpful with these sorts of queries when applying for PGCE courses!

Hello

As mentioned by @SarcAndSpark, the Fitness to Teach criteria is different for every provider. Some will ask you to do a questionnaire, others perhaps have ask for a doctors note and medical. They are there to make sure that any reasonable adjustments that you may need are made, but also to safe-guard any children in your care.

If you'd like 1-2-1 support from a Get into Teaching adviser, we'd be happy to help. We are a group of teachers who are also expert in the application process for teacher training course, and can help you find the right course for you, answer these types of questions, and help you write an outstanding personal statement! If this is of interest, please DM me!

Jane

Reply 6

peoplewhisper

OP

6

Original post by BigChubbs28

Hi, I’m just wondering how this went as I am in this situation now and wondering if you got cleared?

Hi!

This reply may be totally irrelevant now but I was just thinking of the form today so thought I would check this thread. Even if this doesn't help you, it may help others who are concerned so I'll explain my experience!

I still applied for the course and got accepted (I'm now in 2nd year) and the form asked basic questions about mental health, history of going to A&E and a few others which I can't remember since it's been so long! There was no mention of weight on the form so I needn't worry about that, it was more to check on mental health rather than physical (things such as anxiety and depression). Obviously, the forms will be different uni's but I highly doubt they will turn you away for your weight and I assume that any information you provide is anonymous (I've never had anyone contact me about mine). My advice would be to not let the form put you off applying and just see what the questions are when you receive it and if you're not comfortable filling any in, I'm sure the university will help you! Teacher training courses are usually recruiting courses so they want to accept as many people who are appropriate and have a passion for teaching!

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions about the course, just ask (promise I won't take a year to reply next time haha)!

Reply 7

one_two_three

17

Overweight will not be a barrier to being a primary teacher. I have seen a lot of overweight teachers (even in PE). But if you put down that you have mental health issues like starting fires or something that does not make it safe to be left 1-2-1 with children then you are not passing the questionnaire. Equally, if you have a condition that has made you take 75% of the last year off as sick leave then you are not really a candidate for being a teacher, or for completing a university course.

Fitness To Teach

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