Become a
physics teacher

A physics teacher talking about gravity with balls in the classroom.

Teaching physics is an exciting and rewarding career. Schools need more specialist physics teachers, so it's a great choice of subject.

You could inspire your pupils to consider rewarding careers from tackling climate change to artificial intelligence (AI).

Tax-free bursaries of £28,000 or scholarships of £30,000 are available for eligible trainee physics teachers.

Spark curiosity in physics

As a physics teacher, you’ll be engaging students in a wide range of experiments that can spark their interest.

What you'll be teaching

You'll teach the national curriculum(opens in new window), with opportunities to develop your pupils' ability to think like physicists and see physics as a solution to many challenges.

The themes you're likely to cover for 11 to 14 year olds (key stage 3) include:

  • Energy
  • Motion and forces
  • Electricity and electromagnetism
  • Waves and matter

Themes you’ll cover for 14 to 16 year olds (key stage 4):

  • Energy, forces and wave motion
  • Electricity, magnetism and electromagnetism
  • The structure of matter
  • Atomic structure and space physics

Themes you’ll cover for 16 to 18 year olds (key stage 5):

  • Fields, vectors and scalars
  • Mechanics and mechanical properties of matter
  • Electric circuits and waves
  • Matter, quantum and nuclear physics

Explore what teaching a physics lesson would be like(opens in new window).

It's inspiring getting 'wow, that's how it works' from pupils as they grasp a subject they thought was hard.

Jane Doran, physics and robotics teacher, West Midlands

Check your qualifications

To train to teach in primary and secondary schools in England, you’ll need:

  • GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above in English and maths (and science if you want to teach primary)
  • a bachelor’s degree in any subject

Physics teacher training courses have had successful applications from candidates with a range of degrees, including maths, geology, business studies and finance.

Non-UK citizens can find out more about training to teach in England.

If your training provider thinks you need to top up your physics knowledge, you might need to do a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course before you start your teacher training.

Find out more about the qualifications needed to train to teach.

Fund your teacher training

Tax-free bursaries of £28,000 or scholarships of £30,000 are available for eligible trainee physics teachers.

You can get a bursary or scholarship alongside a tuition fee and maintenance loan.

You may also be able to get extra funding support if you're:

  • a parent or carer
  • disabled

Non-UK citizens are eligible for bursaries and scholarships for physics teacher training courses.

You can find out more about fees and financial support available for non-UK citizens.

Paid internship

If you’re currently doing an undergraduate or master's degree and are interested in teaching physics, you could apply for a paid teaching internship.

The 3-week programme could help you to understand what it’s really like in the classroom and get feel for school life.

Engineers teach physics

If you're an engineer considering a career as a physics teacher, there's a teacher training course designed especially with your experience and skills in mind.

Find out about the engineers teach physics training programme.

Get free one-to-one support

An adviser with years of teaching experience can help you to become a physics teacher. Chat by phone, text, or email as little or often as you need.

Find out more about advisers