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ANZSCO 2414Skill level 1Education and social services

Secondary teacher

Teach Year 7 to Year 12 students in one or two specialist methods, including HSC, VCE and QCE.

Registration: State teacher registration plus Master of Teaching (Secondary)

HSC ATAR calculator

Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1950Job Outlook (2025-06-01)
Graduate starting salary$75,000QILT (2025-03-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

What a secondary teacher actually does

Secondary teachers run between five and six 60-to-75-minute lessons a day across multiple year levels and one or two specialist methods (for example, English and HSIE, or Maths and Science). The day usually opens with morning briefing or homeroom, then back-to-back lessons broken by recess and lunch, with playground or detention duty rostered through the week. There's also one or two non-teaching periods built into a normal load for planning, marking and meetings. After the bell, expect another 1-2 hours of marking, parent emails, faculty meetings and writing reports. Term 4 and the HSC, VCE, QCE or WACE marking windows are the heaviest weeks of the year, often including weekend work. Co-curricular obligations (sport coaching, debating, school musicals, camps) sit on top of the timetabled hours and most schools expect at least one a year. Many secondary teachers run at 45-55 hours a week in term time, with school holidays used for unit planning, exam writing and a real break.

Typical tasks

  • Plan senior-secondary teaching programmes.
  • Deliver lessons and run revision sessions.
  • Mark and moderate student work.

Skills you'll use

  • Deep subject content in your method areas
  • Australian Curriculum and senior syllabus design (HSC, VCE, QCE, WACE, SACE, TCE, NT, ACT)
  • Designing summative and formative assessment plus rubrics
  • Marking, moderation and writing report comments
  • Classroom management of adolescents (years 7 through 12)
  • Pastoral care and child-protection mandatory reporting
  • Working with parents and external tutors

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 12 with the subject prerequisites for your intended method (for example, Maths Methods if you want to teach Maths)
  2. 2Complete a 4-year accredited Bachelor of Education (Secondary), or a 3-year undergrad degree in your discipline followed by a 2-year Master of Teaching (Secondary)
  3. 3Choose one or two teaching methods. Most states require you to have studied the equivalent of a major (at least 6 units) in your first method
  4. 4Sit and pass the LANTITE (Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education) before final placement
  5. 5Complete the supervised teaching practicum (60 plus days) including a senior-secondary block
  6. 6Apply to your state registration authority (NESA, VIT, QCT, TRBSA, TRBWA, TRB Tas, TQI, NT TRB) and get a Working With Children Check
  7. 7Apply for graduate roles through state teacher recruitment, Catholic education offices or independent school networks. Methods in shortage (Maths, Physics, IT, D&T, languages) get priority placement and incentives

Where you can work

  • State government high schools and senior secondary colleges
  • Catholic systemic secondary schools
  • Independent secondary schools (AIS and ISV networks)
  • Selective and partially selective schools
  • Rural and remote schools (location incentives in shortage methods)
  • Distance education and virtual schools
  • International schools and the Defence Force schools network

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Graduate
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Graduate secondary teacher, Provisional registered teacher
    Salary band: $75,000 - $85,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Proficient teacher
    3-7 years
    Typical roles: Classroom teacher, Year-level coordinator, Subject coordinator
    Salary band: $90,000 - $115,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Highly accomplished or lead
    8-15 years
    Typical roles: Head of faculty, Director of senior school, Curriculum leader
    Salary band: $115,000 - $145,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  4. School leadership
    15+ years
    Typical roles: Deputy principal, Principal, Head of senior school

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You love a subject deeply enough to teach it for 30 years
  • You can hold the attention of a Year 9 class on a Friday afternoon
  • You can explain a tough idea three different ways without losing patience
  • You're okay with public-sector pay scales rather than rapid commercial growth
  • You can manage your own time around an unforgiving timetable

This might not suit you if

  • You don't want regular adolescent behaviour management
  • You hate marking and detailed feedback
  • You want a job where you can keep work and home strictly separate
  • You can't take a week of HSC or VCE marking pressure
  • You want to work mostly with adults

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for secondary teacher. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

No direct TAFE pathway to this career.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.