Teach17

A physics degree can take you into engineering, research, computing, finance, medicine, data science and many other fields. Teaching may not be the most obvious route, but it is one of the few careers in which your understanding of physics can directly change the opportunities available to young people.

Physics teaching is not an easy alternative to working in industry. It involves planning, assessment, behaviour management, administration and a great deal of emotional energy. You may also teach some chemistry and biology, particularly at Key Stage 3.

However, for a graduate who enjoys physics, people and purposeful work, it can offer a remarkably varied and rewarding career.

1. Schools genuinely need physics graduates

The shortage of specialist physics teachers is not just a convenient recruitment slogan.

The Institute of Physics has estimated that England is short of approximately 3,500 physics teachers. Although recruitment improved in 2025–26, when 1,095 people entered postgraduate physics teacher training, this was still only 78% of the government’s target.

A physics graduate entering teaching therefore brings knowledge that many departments urgently need. In some schools, you may be the only person with a physics degree.

That gives you the opportunity to improve not only your own lessons but also the confidence and subject knowledge of the wider science department.

2. You can make a difficult subject feel possible

Many pupils approach physics believing that it is only for exceptionally clever people.

Equations, graphs and unfamiliar terminology can quickly make them feel that they do not belong in the subject. A strong teacher can change that.

You can break a difficult problem into manageable steps, demonstrate what an abstract idea actually means and show pupils that confusion is not evidence of failure. It is often simply the starting point of learning.

Helping a pupil move from “I can’t do physics” to “I understand this” is one of the most satisfying parts of the job.

3. You can give pupils access to opportunities

Physics opens routes into engineering, medicine, computing, architecture, renewable energy, research and many other careers. However, pupils cannot choose opportunities they have never encountered.

A knowledgeable teacher can introduce careers that pupils may not know exist. You can explain what engineers actually do, show how medical scanners use physics or connect classroom learning to satellites, climate science, artificial intelligence and energy production.

For pupils without scientists or engineers in their families, their physics teacher may be their most important connection to the subject beyond school.

4. You can challenge stereotypes about who belongs in physics

Physics still carries an unhelpful image. It is sometimes presented as a subject for mathematical geniuses, future engineers or a narrow type of pupil.

Teachers have the power to challenge this.

You can choose examples that appeal to a broader range of interests, introduce physicists from different backgrounds and avoid treating speed as the same thing as ability. You can create a classroom in which pupils are expected to think hard but are not embarrassed when they make mistakes.

Representation matters, but expectations matter too. Pupils notice which students are asked challenging questions, praised for their thinking and encouraged to continue with the subject.

5. Your degree knowledge will have a clear purpose

Many physics graduates enter careers in which the analytical skills developed during their degree are valuable, but the physics itself is rarely used.

Teaching allows you to revisit mechanics, electricity, waves, particles, fields, nuclear physics and space. At A-level, you may also teach topics such as quantum physics, circular motion, capacitors and gravitational fields.

You will not be solving university-level problems every day. Instead, you will use your deeper knowledge to decide what pupils need to understand, which simplifications are helpful and where those simplifications eventually break down.

Your degree becomes the foundation beneath your teaching rather than something left behind after graduation.

6. Teaching will expose gaps in your own understanding

Being able to complete a calculation is not the same as being able to explain the physics behind it.

You may know how to calculate resistance in a parallel circuit but initially struggle to explain why the total resistance is lower than either branch resistance. You may be able to use an equation for circular motion while finding it surprisingly difficult to explain why an orbiting object is accelerating.

Pupils ask questions that force you to return to first principles. They notice apparent contradictions and test whether your explanation really makes sense.

Teaching physics can therefore deepen your own understanding. You begin to see the subject through several different routes rather than through equations alone.

7. You will develop the skill of making complex ideas clear

Clear explanation is a demanding intellectual skill.

A teacher must decide which information is essential, which example will help and which analogy may create a misconception later. You need to explain ideas accurately without using language that is more complicated than the idea itself.

You will learn to use diagrams, demonstrations, models, questions and carefully chosen examples. You will also learn to recognise when an explanation has failed and change your approach without blaming the pupil.

These communication skills are useful far beyond the classroom.

8. Physics gives you some of the best practical lessons in school

Physics can be highly visual and practical.

You can use a Van de Graaff generator to explore static electricity, a ripple tank to investigate waves or a thermal camera to reveal energy transfers. You can generate electricity with a magnet and coil, measure the speed of sound or use radioactive sources under carefully controlled conditions.

Practical work is not automatically good teaching. An exciting demonstration can become little more than entertainment unless it is supported by prediction, observation and explanation.

However, when practical work is planned well, pupils can see a physical principle operating directly in front of them. That moment can make an idea memorable.

9. You can connect school physics to the real world

Pupils frequently ask when they will ever use what they are learning.

Physics gives you plenty of answers.

You can connect momentum to vehicle safety, pressure to medical treatments, electromagnetic induction to power stations and wave behaviour to mobile communication. Space physics can lead into discussions of satellites, climate monitoring and planetary exploration.

These connections do not need to become elaborate themed lessons. Sometimes one carefully chosen example is enough to show that the equation on the board describes something real.

10. Pupils will ask questions that keep the subject interesting

Physics lessons can move quickly from the curriculum into much bigger territory.

Could humans live on another planet? Is time travel possible? Why can nothing exceed the speed of light? What is dark matter? Could an asteroid destroy Earth? What does quantum physics actually mean?

You will not know the answer to every question. A good physics teacher does not pretend otherwise.

Instead, you can model intellectual honesty: explain what is known, identify what remains uncertain and distinguish scientific evidence from speculation. Pupils learn that science is not simply a completed collection of facts.

11. The work is varied

A physics teacher rarely spends the whole day doing one type of work.

You may explain forces to Year 7, supervise a GCSE practical, help an A-level student with electric fields and discuss curriculum planning with colleagues—all before the end of the school day.

Different classes respond differently to the same lesson. One group may need more modelling, another more challenge and another a clearer classroom routine before much learning can happen.

This variety can be tiring, but it also makes the job difficult to find boring.

12. You can see your impact directly

In many graduate careers, the final impact of your work may be distant or difficult to identify.

In teaching, it is often visible.

You see a pupil answer a question they could not answer last week. You watch a class become more confident with equations. You help someone achieve the grade needed for an apprenticeship, sixth-form place or university course.

Not every day feels transformative. Progress is often slow, uneven and difficult to measure. Nevertheless, over a year, you can usually see that pupils know more, can do more and sometimes think differently because you taught them.

13. You will develop skills that remain valuable elsewhere

Teaching develops much more than presentation skills.

You learn to manage competing priorities, analyse assessment information, resolve conflict, give useful feedback and make decisions under pressure. You become better at reading a room, adapting explanations and communicating with people who have very different levels of knowledge.

These skills can lead towards educational publishing, examination work, curriculum development, teacher training, outreach, leadership, science communication or educational technology.

Entering teaching does not remove every other career option. It can create new ones.

14. There are several ways to develop your career

Not every successful teacher needs to become a senior leader.

You could remain focused on classroom teaching, become a head of physics or lead a science department. You might specialise in sixth-form teaching, practical work, curriculum design, teacher development or supporting pupils with additional needs.

Experienced physics teachers may also mentor trainees, deliver professional development, mark examinations, write resources or work with organisations supporting physics education.

The classroom can remain at the centre of your career without being its only element.

15. Training can be financially accessible

Eligible people beginning postgraduate physics teacher training in England between September 2026 and July 2027 may receive a tax-free bursary of £29,000 or a scholarship of £31,000. Tuition fee and maintenance loans may also be available, depending on individual circumstances.

Some salaried training routes are available, although they can be competitive and place trainees in the classroom more quickly.

Funding should not be the main reason to become a teacher. However, it can make the transition from university or another career more realistic.

Arrangements differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so applicants should check the current guidance for the part of the UK in which they intend to train.

16. You receive support while learning the profession

A physics degree gives you valuable subject knowledge, but it does not automatically prepare you to manage a classroom, plan a sequence of lessons or assess pupils effectively.

That is why teacher training matters.

During training, you should receive regular mentoring, opportunities to observe experienced teachers and gradually increasing responsibility. In England, qualified teachers then complete a two-year early career induction period with further mentoring and professional development.

You are not expected to be an expert teacher immediately. You are expected to learn, respond to feedback and improve.

17. Your work can matter long after pupils leave your classroom

Most pupils will not become physicists, and that is not the only purpose of physics education.

They may become electricians, doctors, engineers, technicians, designers, programmers or informed citizens making decisions about energy, technology and the environment. Even pupils who never study physics again can leave school better able to interpret evidence, solve problems and question unsupported claims.

You may also teach someone who discovers a genuine passion for the subject. Years later, that pupil may remember the teacher who first made physics feel understandable.

You probably will not know about every life you influence. The value of the work does not depend on receiving the credit.

Be honest before applying

Teaching physics can be brilliant, but prospective teachers should see the whole job.

You will probably teach some general science, especially during the early part of secondary school. You will deal with reluctant pupils, behaviour problems, deadlines and lessons that do not go as planned. The working day does not always finish when pupils leave, and the emotional demands can be considerable.

The minimum starting salary for a qualified teacher in England is currently listed as £32,916, with higher rates in London. That is a respectable starting point, but some physics graduates will be able to earn considerably more in other sectors.

Spend time in a school before making a decision. Observe ordinary lessons rather than only special events. Speak to recently qualified teachers as well as senior leaders. Ask about workload, mentoring, behaviour and the amount of non-physics teaching involved.

Do not choose teaching because you cannot think of anything else to do with your degree.

Choose it because you want to use your knowledge to help other people understand the world—and because you believe that access to an excellent physics education should not depend on which school a child happens to attend.