Teaching Course Progression Opportunities

The Level 3 Award in Education and Training formerly known as PTLLS (Preparing to teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) is an expansive qualification with a range of opportunities available once you have achieved this status. It is a lifelong qualification which means the certificate does not expire.

Once you have gained the level 3 qualification, you can deliver any course or qualification which you hold and is within date. Freelance trainers or instructors often fill their working calendars by delivering courses to a variety of different teaching, training and assessing companies. More often than not, they will often be offered regular business if they deliver a good course. The benefits of becoming a freelance trainer is that you can choose when you wish to work and the variety of your role is often seen as positive for any trainer. 

When first starting out, we recommend that you register with an awarding body or society to become a member in order to deliver accredited training courses. For example, if you wish to deliver First Aid Training courses then it would be beneficial to join a provider such as FAIB (First Aid Industry Body). A professional profile on LinkedIn will help training companies discover your services. 

For many of our customers the idea of working for yourself is an exciting or lucrative prospect. Setting up your own training company or academy can be achieved by gaining qualifications such as the Level 3 AET and the Level 3 CAVA Assessing qualification. It is advisable to be linked with an awarding body to become an approved training centre in order to issue accredited course certificates.    

Many companies are focused on reducing the cost of employing external trainers when delivering in-house training courses. A way to overcome this issue is to establish a designated training manager or in-house trainers to deliver tailor made courses. With the Level 3 AET qualification, you can design bespoke courses to teach your workforce. 
Post 16 Sector opportunities

The Level 3 AET will allow you to teach short courses within the post 16 sector. You can develop your teaching skills further by becoming a sessional lecturer or even a cover supervisor. The level 3 qualification can help you to gain teaching hours to pursue the Level 4 Certificate qualification, which will help further develop your teaching practices. 

The Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training is a significant ‘step up’ from the Level 3 AET course.  Not only will this qualification allow for all of the benefits of the Level 3 AET, you can also become a teacher within the post 16 sector such as sixth form colleges, FE colleges and adult education centres.

You can teach longer courses than the level 3 AET teaching courses which can last 3-6 months or even a yearlong course. You may not be on the same pay scale as a Level 5 DET teacher- however every school or educational establishment is different so it is worth checking any job specification or criteria. When applying to teaching positions websites such as TES jobs  and Guardian Jobs to see the latest vacancies. 

The Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training will grant you full teacher status within the post 16 sector.  You will start on the qualified teacher pay scale and can progress up the teaching ladder into promotions such as course leader, head of department or pastoral roles. You can find out the latest teaching opportunities on TES jobs.

The Level 5 DET qualification does allow for you to become a member of the Society for Education and Training (SET)  and undertake QTLS Status (Qualified Teacher of Learning and Skills) or even  Advanced Teacher Status to work within primary and secondary teaching settings if you wish.

Many of the level 5 learners seek teaching positions abroad within UAE, Europe and Asia. We would recommend attending recruitment fairs such as Search Associates to find out more about the application process and requirements.