Teaching Secondary - graduated from Oxbridge, Imperial , UCL

Are teachers who graduate from Oxbridge, Imperial or UCL seen as overqualified for teaching roles at comprehensive secondary schools?
Are masters degrees also seen as “over qualification”

No? I know a lot of Oxbridge people who've gone onto the PGCE, and are now teaching in secondaries.

Is this a philosophical question, or is this a practical question? I know secondary school teachers who had Doctorates.

No. For A level maths, I had two amazing teachers, one with degree from Cambridge (and PhD), and the other Oxford. They inspired me to really get into maths, which changed my life.

I had maths teachers before that couldn't keep up, and said so on my reports - they didn't have maths degrees though. I wasn't that good at maths then either, so would have benefitted from better teachers, from any university.

I don't think so. I had 6 teachers in Y13 and 2 of them were Oxbridge educated, and one more in Y12.

that’s amazing !
i think that’s why highly educated teachers are amazing, but i was wondering whether such teachers were seen as overqualified for comprehensive skls

no practical. do these teachers work at comprehensive or just grammar/independent!

no practical. do these teachers work at comprehensive or just grammar/independent!

Are teachers who graduate from Oxbridge, Imperial or UCL seen as overqualified for teaching roles at comprehensive secondary schools?
Are masters degrees also seen as “over qualification”

I mean, it depends?

My History Teacher was a Cambridge Masters graduate, and I was at an awful comprehensive.

You find teachers that exclusively teach at grammars/independents just aren't tough enough for the comprehensive classroom (partially behaviour wise, but mostly with the effort needed to help students achieve their best.) Those who teach at the kind of school I went to truly believe in the potential of kids who aren't at G/I schools, which is a trait entirely independent of where you went for university.

There's also the fact that (I reckon) teachers that went to G/I schools are more likely to want to teach at those schools, although that's obviously not true for all of them (my English teacher went to an independent school, but she exclusively taught in tough areas (alternative education providers, pupil referral units, juvenile prisons, and bad comps), as she knew those kids needed her help more.)

It is dangerous to assume that all kids who are not at Grammars or Independents do not deserve teachers who are well educated, or who have Masters degrees. If anything, those kids need them more.

Of course these grads teach in state comps - there are only about 160 GS and lots of teachers won't touch a job in a Private school. Private schools actually don't require a PGCE so staff can be less well qualified than at a comp!

i’m mainly asking about employment, as i read that in other sectors some graduates are not employed due to be overqualified

Does this apply in the teaching sector?

No, it does not. None of the things you quote are being 'over-qualified'. We are looking for great teachers who have the right knowledge and skills in the classroom.

is anything considered over qualified ?

and are graduates from top unis looked at preferably or does the university not matter at all?

I'm a comprehensive secondary school teacher who graduated from UCL. The answer is no to both of your questions.

Nothing is over-qualified really. Several PhDs might be considered excessive though!

It's the whole picture - being a PhD or from a good uni doesn't necessarily make someone a good teacher. I've interviewed some people who cannot explain anything in more than one way when a student gets stuck - sometimes these are highly qualified people who've always understood straight away. You also need to be creative to teach well

okay thank you!
does it benefit going to a top uni like oxbridge, in terms of employment in teaching?
would you encourage doing a masters?

No I don't think there's any benefit - some top Private schools might like it for promotional purposes [theirs not yours]!

I did my Masters through my school and so it was free - I think you are better off choosing a good PGCE so your teaching is at least good on a regular basis..