I’m a member of the armed forces

If you do not hold teaching qualifications or have a degree but have served in the armed forces in the UK, your skills are very much in demand.

The Further Forces is a great place to start. It is a scheme engineered by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to recruit and retrain armed forces service leavers.

The emphasis is on technical subjects, including Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) in the Further Education (FE) sector. The programme is designed to take advantage of former military personnel’s unique perspective and use your organisational, leadership and management skills in the classroom.

The government appears committed to using the skills honed in the armed forces and creating a raft of teachers with these qualities. There may be a tax-free undergraduate bursary of £40,000 if you are (all of the following):

• A veteran of the UK armed forces (the British Army, Royal Air Force or Royal Navy) who left no more than 5 years before the start of the course
• Training to teach secondary biology, chemistry, physics, computing, maths or languages
• Undertaking an undergraduate degree leading to qualified teacher status (QTS) in England.

In addition, if you’re training to teach certain subjects, you may be eligible for a postgraduate scholarship or bursary.

In general, if you are an ex-force member considering a career change, including teaching in FE, the Career Transition Partnership is a great resource that aims to support military leavers as they transition to civilian life.

It offers access to a wealth of support, covering career transition guidance, skills workshops, vocational training and routes to employment.

The government’s Get Into Teaching resource offers dedicated support for free from a teacher training adviser and enables you to get into contact to someone similar to yourself who has left the armed forces and has transitioned into teaching. You can access this resource with or without a degree.