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Higher education (HE) lecturers research and teach academic and vocational subjects at universities and higher education colleges.
You could work: evenings; flexibly
There will be
4.3% more Higher education lecturer jobs in 2027.
In your local area
In this job, you will:
You could work at a university or at a college.
You can get into this job through:
You'll need a good degree pass, for example first class or upper second class, relevant to the subject you want to teach.
You'll also need to have completed a postgraduate master's or PhD qualification, or be working towards one. It's common to have had academic work published.
You'll be expected to do a teaching qualification soon after you start. This is usually offered by your university and is done while working.
You may be able to get experience by taking on teaching duties while you're a postgraduate student. Some universities also offer work as a graduate teaching assistant.
You'll need several years' relevant work experience if you want to teach vocational subjects, for example art or engineering.
You'll usually need:
You can get into this role through a postgraduate apprenticeship as an academic professional. You can specialise in teaching or research.
To apply, you'll normally need a minimum of a postgraduate qualification, such as a master's degree.
You'll need to:
You can find out more about working in higher education from Advance HE.
You could work for public universities and colleges, law and business schools, or private sector universities and schools.
After 5 to 7 years you could become a senior lecturer. You could then become a principal lecturer, reader or professor. Competition is strong and promotion depends on how well you perform. You may need to move to another university to take up a teaching or research post.