Teaching Staff

As a general rule, independent schools will invest more heavily in teachers than schools in the maintained sector. High-quality education depends on having the right number of teachers with the right skills and specialisms and the right qualities.

Independent schools attract well-qualified, highly skilled, and talented teachers. They will be subject to the necessary checks and many will be registered with the General Teaching Council. One of the greatest strengths of independent schools is the quality and commitment of the staff, who readily contribute to the rich and varied extra-curricular programmes offered during the school day, after school, on Saturdays and sometimes during the holidays.

Find out as much as you can about the teachers. How long have they taught at the school? Where have they taught before? Were they recruited straight from university? What are their qualifications? Is there a balance between newly qualified and experienced staff? Are they full-time? What is the turnover of staff? Does the school have difficulty attracting teachers in certain subjects? One of the strengths of preparatory and independent junior schools is the extent to which they provide teaching by specialists in their subjects, rather than by ‘generalists' trying to cover the whole curriculum.