Teaching Vacancies: The Complete Application Guide (ECT to Headteacher)

**TL;DR.** Teaching applications in England are regulated by the Teaching Regulation Agency, most vacancies are advertised on the Teaching Vacancies service on gov.uk, and safer recruitment under Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025 applies to every teaching role. The supporting statement structure changes markedly by career stage — an ECT statement is evidence of training-year capability; a headteacher statement is evidence of whole-school leadership. This guide covers every stage.

You are applying for your first teaching post. You have completed your PGCE and are about to apply for an Early Career Teacher (ECT) role at a primary school. The application form is on Teaching Vacancies — the government service. The supporting statement asks you to "demonstrate how your experience and skills meet the requirements of the person specification". There is no word limit stated. You are unsure whether to write 600 words or 2,000.

Teaching applications are unusual because the structure differs significantly by career stage and because safer-recruitment requirements add form-level complexity that other sectors don't have. This guide walks through the application process, career-stage expectations, and the supporting statement structures that score.

Where teaching jobs are advertised

Most state-school teaching vacancies in England are now advertised on Teaching Vacancies, the official GOV.UK service operated by the Department for Education. It replaced the fragmented local authority and TES-dominated landscape with a single free-to-employer platform.

• Search all state-school vacancies in England (primary, secondary, special, pupil referral units, alternative provision)
• Filter by subject, phase, region, working pattern, and NQT/ECT suitability
• Save searches and subscribe to alerts
• Apply directly through the service using a CV and supporting statement

Independent schools generally advertise on their own websites or through specialist agents. Catholic schools may also advertise on Catholic Education Service. Some schools still post on TES but the trend is decisively towards Teaching Vacancies.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

QTS is the statutory qualification required to teach in state-maintained schools in England. It is regulated by the Teaching Regulation Agency. QTS can be awarded through:

• A postgraduate ITT route (PGCE with QTS, School Direct, Teach First, SCITT)
• An undergraduate route (BEd, BA/BSc with QTS)
• An assessment-only route for unqualified experienced teachers
• Recognised teaching qualifications from outside England (subject to assessment)

Academies and free schools can legally employ teachers without QTS but most advertise QTS as essential or strongly preferred. Independent schools vary.

At application, QTS must be evidenced. The TRA maintains a public register; schools check it during appointment. If you trained recently, your TRA reference number will be on your QTS certificate.

The Early Career Framework (ECF)

The two years after QTS are the Early Career Teacher (ECT) period. During this time you work under the statutory Early Career Framework, which structures mentoring, observation, and professional development. ECT posts are permanent posts but with this statutory support period.

• Reference your QTS date and training route
• Describe your training-year placements and the breadth of experience they gave you
• Evidence specific pedagogy you can demonstrate (assessment for learning, adaptive teaching, behaviour management frameworks)
• Show commitment to the ECF and to sustained CPD

Safer recruitment — KCSIE 2025

Every teaching application in England is governed by Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025, the statutory guidance updated on 1 September 2025. Part Three of KCSIE covers safer recruitment. Key requirements that affect your application:

• **Full employment history** — no unexplained gaps. Every month of your working life since leaving school must be accounted for.
• **References from your most recent employer and any previous role working with children** — required before interview (not before appointment).
• **DBS enhanced clearance** — required before you start the role.
• **Identity and right-to-work checks** — done at appointment.
• **Prohibited list checks** — schools check the TRA's prohibited-teachers list.
• **Section 128 direction checks** — for management roles in academies.

**What this means for your application:** your supporting statement does not need to address safer recruitment explicitly, but your form-level information must be complete and honest. Any gap not explained, or any discrepancy between your application and the DBS certificate, will cause the offer to be withdrawn.

There is a separate SpecMatch guide on Safer Recruitment and KCSIE 2025 covering the form-level mechanics in detail.

Supporting statement by career stage

Career stages have very different evidence expectations. Pick your section.

Early Career Teacher (ECT)

**Length:** 600–900 words typical for primary, 700–1,200 for secondary.

• Opening (60–80 words): your QTS route, your teaching subject or phase, and what has drawn you to this specific school
• Subject/phase pedagogy (150–200 words): how you plan, teach, and assess
• Behaviour management (120–180 words): specific approach, not a list of strategies
• Inclusive practice — SEND and EAL (120–180 words): evidence from placement
• Assessment and progress (100–150 words): how you use assessment to shape teaching
• Closing (60–100 words): motivation for this school and phase

**Worked ECT paragraph (secondary maths):**

> *Subject pedagogy.* On my final placement in a mixed comprehensive, I taught maths across Year 7, Year 9, and Year 11 including an intervention group working towards Foundation-tier GCSE. I plan using the school's mastery scheme of work and White Rose resources, sequencing concepts through concrete-pictorial-abstract progression for the lower years and building fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving into every lesson. In my Year 11 intervention group I identified a recurring misconception around fractions with unlike denominators; I redesigned the sequence across three lessons to address the underlying misconception rather than the surface error, using visual bar models before returning to the algorithm. By the end of the half term, formative assessment showed 12 of the 14 students had independently solved the target exam questions correctly.

Scores well because: named curriculum (mastery, White Rose), specific pedagogy (CPA progression), specific misconception identified, specific intervention described, measurable outcome (12 of 14 students).

Classroom Teacher (Main Pay Range / Upper Pay Range)

**Length:** 900–1,500 words typical.

• Subject/phase pedagogy with more depth than ECT
• Contribution to a team, department, or phase
• Leadership of a subject area, small project, or intervention programme
• Whole-school contribution — CPD, extracurricular, trips
• Inclusive practice with specific case studies
• Assessment data and impact — your contribution to subject outcomes

Middle Leader (TLR holder, Head of Department, Phase Leader)

**Length:** 1,200–1,800 words typical.

• Leadership of a department or phase — team size, subject, key stages
• Curriculum design and implementation
• Team development — line management, CPD leadership, performance management
• Data accountability — subject or phase outcomes, attribution to decisions you made
• Whole-school contribution at leadership level — strategy groups, INSET delivery
• Safeguarding responsibilities (deputy DSL for many middle leaders)

Senior Leader (Assistant Head, Deputy Head, SLT)

**Length:** 1,500–2,500 words typical.

• Whole-school leadership portfolio — usually specific remit (curriculum, behaviour, inclusion, assessment, data)
• Strategic contribution to school improvement plan
• Line management at leadership level
• External and governor engagement
• Safeguarding (often DSL or deputy DSL)
• Measurable whole-school outcomes attributable to your leadership

Headteacher

**Length:** 2,000–3,500 words typical.

• Leadership vision and values — evidenced by your track record, not asserted
• School improvement leadership — Ofsted progression, outcomes, culture change
• Governance and external accountability — trust board, local authority, parents
• Financial leadership and strategic resource management
• Community and stakeholder engagement
• Continuity of safeguarding leadership (DSL accountability rests with the headteacher)

Common teaching application mistakes

• **Generic "passion" openings.** "I have always been passionate about teaching" is not an opening. Panels see it on every third application.
• **Describing rather than evidencing pedagogy.** "I use formative assessment" is not evidence. "I use exit tickets at the end of every lesson and use the data to regroup students for the following day's starter activity" is.
• **Skipping specific subject or phase detail.** Secondary applications must reference the specific exam board, curriculum model, and assessment points. Primary applications must reference the specific curriculum and phonics scheme.
• **Writing at the wrong career stage.** An ECT writing at middle-leader level will not be credible. A classroom teacher applying for middle leadership must show leadership evidence, not just good classroom practice.
• **Ignoring the school's context.** Referencing the school's last Ofsted report (the strengths and the areas for development) signals you have done homework.

The school's context — always read before writing

Before writing any teaching supporting statement:

• Read the [school's most recent Ofsted report](https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/)
• Read the school website (ethos, curriculum statement, staff structure)
• Check the school's published results on [Find and compare schools on gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables)
• Note the recent trajectory — improving, stable, declining

Reference one specific element from your research in your supporting statement. Not a bullet-point list of everything you read — one specific thing that genuinely matters to you about the role.

The interview — what to expect

Teaching interviews in England typically include:

• A lesson observation (20–45 minutes) of a class you have never met
• An interview panel (headteacher, deputy, member of governing body, often subject lead)
• For senior roles, a presentation or in-tray exercise
• For headteacher roles, multiple stages including a meeting with students, meeting with staff, panel interview with governors

• Plan for the specific age group and set/ability given to you
• Use a clear structure: starter, main learning, mini-plenary, plenary
• Include assessment for learning moments (questioning, mini-whiteboards, exit tickets)
• Adapt for inclusion — have a plan for SEND and EAL students if relevant
• Be yourself — panels can tell when teachers are performing

• Six STAR examples across: a difficult class, a safeguarding moment, a parent meeting, a team dynamic, a piece of data-driven improvement, a whole-school contribution
• Answers to "why this school" — specific, not generic
• Questions for the panel at the end — prepared, signal interest and substance

How SpecMatch supports teaching applications

SpecMatch reads teaching person specifications from Teaching Vacancies, calibrates supporting statements to career stage (ECT, classroom, middle leader, senior leader, headteacher), references the relevant curriculum frameworks and statutory guidance, and structures statements by the person specification criteria in the order the school lists them.

The Pro plan covers teaching applications. Start free without a card.