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What to include in your personal statement

Tell training providers why you would make a good teacher

Admissions officers will want to know why you want to teach and why you think you have the necessary qualities to become a good teacher. In your personal statement you should

  • explain how you decided that teaching was the right career for you
  • provide evidence that you have the necessary skills to become a good teacher, such as the ability to relate to young people, good communication and interpersonal skills and the capability to organise and manage people
  • show that you have the necessary personal qualities, such as energy, enthusiasm, patience, resilience, tenacity, adaptability, versatility, a creative mind and a good imagination
  • show how the knowledge acquired through your degree, other education and work experience is relevant to the primary school curriculum or the secondary school curriculum subject(s) that you want to teach
  • provide details of hobbies, interests or other skills that may be useful in a school environment. For example, you may speak Arabic or Urdu, have a football coaching qualification or be a keen chess player.

Classroom experience

Training providers will expect you to have gained some classroom experience before starting a course. If you do not have any classroom experience, arrange to go into a local school to observe lessons and help out in the classroom before you apply. In your personal statement you should then describe what you have gained from this experience and how it has increased your motivation to become a teacher and developed your appreciation of what is required to be an effective teacher. You should provide details of the type of school where you gained your experience and state the age range of the students with whom you worked.

Work experience

There is a separate section in the personal statement for work experience. In this section you should provide details of any previous work experience with dates and information about your current job, if you have one. If you have taken part in the TDA-funded Student Associates Scheme, you should provide details that analyse your experience, refer to any documentation arising from your placement and show how it has contributed to your understanding of teaching as a profession.

If you are applying to teach modern languages, you should include information about any time you have spent in the countries whose languages you wish to teach.

Application form assistant

To help you draft your personal statement, you may want to use the application form assistant on the Training and Development Agency for Schools' website. This system identifies the kind of questions you need to ask yourself. It might help you to tailor your personal statement to best describe your strengths and experience in support of your application. If you use the application form assistant, you can then copy and paste your personal statement into your GTTR application, but please remember that there is a limit of 47 lines.

If you want to send more information, perhaps a CV, to your chosen training providers, you should wait until you receive your Welcome letter. This letter will tell you which training provider is considering your application. You should send your additional information to this provider only. Whenever we tell you that we have sent your application to a different training provider, you should send your additional information to this provider. You should ensure that all documents you send to training providers contain both your full name and Personal ID. Please do not send any additional electronic or paper documents to the GTTR.

International students

If you are an international student, use your personal statement to tell training providers why you want the train to teach in the UK. Also try to answer these questions:


  • What evidence do you have to show that you can complete a teacher training course that is taught in English? Please say if some of your studies have been taught or examined in English.
  • Have you taken part in any activities outside your studies where you have used English?