Teacher of talented and gifted students
Also called gifted pupils teacher, teacher for gifted pupils, teacher for talented pupils
Teachers of talented and gifted students teach students who have strong skills in one or more areas. They monitor the students’ progress, suggest extra activities to stretch and stimulate their skills, introduce them to new topics and subjects, assign homework and grade papers and tests, and finally they provide emotional support when needed. Teachers working with talented and gifted students know how to foster their interest and make them comfortable with their intelligence.
What you'd do
Special needs teachers · ILO- Assessing students' abilities and limitations with regard to intellectual, physical, social and emotional impairments, exceptional intellectual gifts, or other specific problems
- Designing or modifying curricula and preparing and delivering programmes, lessons and activities adapted to students’ abilities and needs
- Giving instruction on an individual or group basis using special techniques or aids appropriate to students’ needs
- Employing special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory
- Establishing and enforcing rules for behaviour and policies and procedures to maintain order among students
- Teaching academic subjects and practical and self-help skills to students with hearing, sight and other impairments
- Stimulating and developing students’ confidence interests, abilities, manual skills and coordination
- Conferring with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons for special needs students
- Preparing and maintaining student data and other records and submitting reports
- Administering various forms of assessment and evaluating progress of each student
- Conferring with students, parents, head teacher and other relevant professionals involved in the students’ care to develop individual educational plans designed to promote students' development
- Indoors and outdoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Constant contact with people
- Some freedom to decide
- Usually under 40 hours a week
- Deadlines now and then
- Varied tasks, little repetition
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects11 EU countries are short of special needs 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 take on part of some tasks, but none fully.
Average task score 0.28 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 special needs teachers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).