What Highers Do I Need to Become a Teacher in Scotland?

Teaching is one of the most popular career routes in Scotland — and one of the few where the entry requirements are genuinely flexible. You don’t need straight As. You do need the right combination of qualifications, a clean PVG check, and a willingness to spend four years (or one intense postgraduate year) training for the job.

Two routes in

Primary teaching — the undergraduate degree

A four-year undergraduate primary education degree — often called a BEd, though universities award it under their own named degrees — qualifies you to teach in primary school (P1–P7). You apply through UCAS like any other degree.

Typical entry requirements:

• Higher English — GTC Scotland's minimum is a C; universities often ask for more
• National 5 Maths (some universities want Higher Maths)
• At least three further Highers — GTC Scotland requires Highers in at least four subjects, including English
• A PVG scheme check
• Evidence of working with children (volunteering, coaching, youth groups)

Providers: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Queen Margaret, Stirling, Strathclyde, UHI (English and Gaelic medium) and UWS.

Universities typically ask for four Highers, often around AABB — significantly more accessible than medicine or law. What matters more than grades is the personal statement and interview, where universities look for genuine motivation and experience with children.

Secondary teaching — the degree + PGDE route

Secondary teachers need a degree in their teaching subject (or a closely related subject), followed by a one-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).

The degree can be from any UK university. The PGDE is offered by most Scottish universities with education departments. The PGDE year combines university-based learning with school placements.

PGDE entry requirements:

• A UK degree (or equivalent) with at least 80 SCQF credit points relevant to your teaching subject, 40 of them at SCQF level 8 or above — GTC Scotland sets no minimum classification
• Higher English at C or above (or an accepted equivalent)
• National 5 Maths
• PVG check

Subject shortage bursaries

Scotland has a teacher recruitment problem in certain subjects. If your child is considering teaching Chemistry, Computing Science, Home Economics, Maths, Physics, Technological Education, Modern Languages or Gaelic, there are significant financial incentives — though the Teaching Bursary is for career changers taking a one-year PGDE, not students going straight from school:

• A £12,500 Teaching Bursary during the PGDE year for eligible career changers (on top of SAAS support)
• Faster employment — shortage subject graduates are virtually guaranteed a job
• Rural incentives — some councils offer relocation packages for hard-to-fill posts

The subject combinations that work

For primary teaching, any well-rounded set of Highers works — universities want breadth rather than depth. A mix of literacy, numeracy and one or two other subjects is typical.

For secondary teaching, the Highers need to lead to a degree in a teachable subject. The main teachable subjects in Scotland are: English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computing Science, History, Modern Studies, Geography, Art, Music, PE, Drama, French, Spanish, German, Gaelic, Business Management, Home Economics, and Technical Education.

GTCS registration

Every teacher in a Scottish state school must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). Registration requires a recognised teaching qualification — either an undergraduate teaching degree or a PGDE from a GTCS-accredited programme. Once registered, you complete a one-year probation period (the Teacher Induction Scheme) before becoming fully registered.

Salary

The probationer salary in Scotland is £36,159. After full registration, the main grade starts at £43,383 and a classroom teacher progresses up the scale to £54,453. Promoted posts (principal teacher, depute head, head teacher) go higher. Teaching is one of the better-paid graduate professions in Scotland relative to living costs, particularly outside Edinburgh.

Secondary subject Higher requirements at a glance

The Highers you need depend entirely on the subject you'll teach. Here are the requirements for the most common secondary subjects:

These are the degree entry requirements — not the PGDE requirements, which are a UK degree with 80 SCQF credit points in the teaching subject (40 at SCQF level 8 or above), Higher English and National 5 Maths.

The Teacher Induction Scheme (probation year)

Graduating with an undergraduate teaching degree or PGDE qualifies you for provisional registration with the GTCS. Full registration comes after completing the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) — Scotland's guaranteed one-year probationary placement.

The TIS guarantees every eligible newly qualified teacher a full-time, salaried probationary post for one year. Scotland is unusual in this: unlike England, where NQTs must find their own first post, Scottish graduates are guaranteed a placement. The salary during probation is £36,159.

During TIS, you are guided by a supporter — a fully registered teacher in your school who gives feedback and pastoral support. Your reviewer, usually the headteacher, assesses you against the Standard for Full Registration and makes the recommendation to GTCS for full registration.

A small number of probationers defer TIS (a GTCS panel decides each request) or opt out and complete induction through the Flexible Route, which suits part-time work and needs the equivalent of one full academic year — about 190 days — of assessed teaching. This is possible but less common.

The reality of teacher workload

The headline salary and holidays make teaching look attractive. The workload makes some experienced teachers leave within five years. What the open days don't always tell you:

• A full secondary teacher typically marks 600–900 essays, reports or papers per year across their classes
• Planning, marking and reporting regularly extends the working day 2–3 hours beyond classroom time
• School management demands have increased — teachers are expected to contribute to improvement planning, data tracking and interdisciplinary working
• The emotional demands of supporting young people — particularly in schools serving deprived communities — are significant

This is not a reason to avoid teaching. It is a reason to enter it with clear eyes.

What we’d tell a parent whose child is considering teaching

It’s a career that offers genuine job security, a defined pension, long holidays, and the satisfaction of watching children learn. It’s also exhausting, emotionally demanding, and increasingly complex. If your child enjoys working with young people and has a subject they’re passionate about, it’s one of the best graduate careers available in Scotland. If they’re choosing it because they can’t think of anything else — that’s not enough. Teaching requires commitment, and the training is intense.

The entry requirements are the easy part. The job is the hard part. But the rewards are real.