Secondary school teacher
Also called art teacher, maths teacher, science teacher
Secondary school teachers provide education to students, commonly children and young adults, in a secondary school setting. They are usually specialist subject teachers, who instruct in their own field of study. They prepare lesson plans and materials, monitor the students' progress, assist individually when necessary and evaluate their knowledge and performance through assignments, tests and examinations.
What you'd do
Secondary education teachers · ILO- Designing and modifying curricula and preparing educational courses of study in accordance with curriculum guidelines
- Establishing and enforcing rules for behaviour and procedures for maintaining order among students
- Preparing and giving lessons, discussions and demonstrations in one or more subjects
- Establishing clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicating those objectives to students
- Preparing materials and classrooms for class activities
- Adapting teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests
- Observing and evaluating students’ performance and behaviour
- Preparing, administering and marking tests, assignments and examinations to evaluate pupils' progress
- Preparing reports about pupils' work and conferring with other teachers and parents
- Participating in meetings concerning the school's educational or organizational policies
- Planning, organizing and participating in school activities such as excursions, sporting events and concerts
- Indoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Constant contact with people
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines now and then
- Varied tasks, little repetition
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects12 EU countries are short of secondary education teachers now, but fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,700 a month (Hungary) to €9,900 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among professionals in the EU, women earn 21% less per hour than men. Professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually a degreeA degree in education science is the usual route.
823 institutions in the EU offer education bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.30 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 11 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for secondary education teachers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).