I’m an early career teacher, teaching a reception class (although I consider myself a key stage 2 teacher). My degree is in politics and I like the idea of using this in my teaching. I’m considering moving to secondary teaching and am interested in posts advertised for secondary politics teachers. Would a head consider me? (I’ve taught KS2 and have worked with teenagers). If not, how can I gain the skills to enable me to make the jump?

Since September last year, only 13 posts have been advertised for teachers of citizenship and 18 for subject leaders. Posts to teach politics are rare in schools, but more common in FE. A better route may be to find a school looking for a general class teacher to teach many subjects to pupils new to the secondary sector, which welcome teachers with primary sector experience. You may also be able to negotiate specialist teaching. Apart from these options, you may find that heads want to appoint secondary-trained teachers. With more teachers being trained than in recent years, making the switch is difficult.