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Will TEFL work help towards starting a career in teaching?

I am planning to go to Thailand for a year to teach English. After that I would like to go on and teach physical education at secondary school. Right now I have a first-class degree in music technology.

My question is, will my year away teaching TEFL go some way to helping me get onto a PGCE course in secondary physical education? My undergraduate degree is not relevant, but I did manage to get an A for PE in my GCSEs. Sports and fitness is a passion of mine. I regularly attend the gym and I am currently a member of a running club.

It may be worth noting that I have GCSE grades D in maths and science. I understand I would have to improve these. Would it be possible to retake them during a PGCE course?

Thanks for any help you can give me.
Original post by andyeperry
I am planning to go to Thailand for a year to teach English. After that I would like to go on and teach physical education at secondary school. Right now I have a first-class degree in music technology.

My question is, will my year away teaching TEFL go some way to helping me get onto a PGCE course in secondary physical education? My undergraduate degree is not relevant, but I did manage to get an A for PE in my GCSEs. Sports and fitness is a passion of mine. I regularly attend the gym and I am currently a member of a running club.

It may be worth noting that I have GCSE grades D in maths and science. I understand I would have to improve these. Would it be possible to retake them during a PGCE course?

Thanks for any help you can give me.


There are a few issues with what you have posted:

1) You would need to check out with universities if you would be able to apply for a PGCE in PE. As an example Sheffield Hallam ask for an Honours Degree with substantial elements in physical education or sports related studies. 50% or more of the undergrad degree being the in PGCE subject is what is normally considered. So you need to check entry requirements carefully and email admisison if in doubt. The fact you have a first won't make up for the lack of physical education in your degree.

2) I can't answer for certain whether the teaching experience in Thailand would help your application but my instinct would be to say no as you would be teaching English not sport- to me it just enforces the message that you don't have enough sport experience. Either way you would still need to have experience in a British state school.

3) You would need to have passed or be taking the GCSE's at the time of applying. You certainly wouldn't have time to retake whilst on a PGCE course! And some unis like Sheffield Hallam only ask for C's in Maths and English though I believe there are others asking for a C in Science
Original post by andyeperry
I am planning to go to Thailand for a year to teach English. After that I would like to go on and teach physical education at secondary school. Right now I have a first-class degree in music technology.

My question is, will my year away teaching TEFL go some way to helping me get onto a PGCE course in secondary physical education? My undergraduate degree is not relevant, but I did manage to get an A for PE in my GCSEs. Sports and fitness is a passion of mine. I regularly attend the gym and I am currently a member of a running club.

It may be worth noting that I have GCSE grades D in maths and science. I understand I would have to improve these. Would it be possible to retake them during a PGCE course?

Thanks for any help you can give me.


Hey Andy,

I've been teaching English in Thailand for just over 2 years now (a lot longer than initially planned, but I fell in love with the place!)

Teaching English as a Foreign Language is completely different to teaching English in a Western country because the teaching methodology is so different. So, to answer your question, I don't think it would help massively with your PGCE application process, particularly if you are applying for PE.

However, I do think it says a lot about someone who does decide to teach abroad. It's hard work. In fact, really hard work. At the first school I taught at, I was ushered into a classroom with 50 young students and not one of them could string a coherent sentence together. I was given a piece of chalk, the teacher left, and I had to teach...

Anyway, after 2 years, I've definitely learnt a fair bit about classroom management, and that's just from direct experience, not a text book.

Even if it doesn't amount to much when I mention it on my PGCE Secondary English application, I know I'm going to be 100% more confident than what I would have been if I had merely observed a couple of classes within a school in the UK.
(edited 9 years ago)

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