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Studies & Degrees in Teacher Training for Secondary Education

Secondary teacher training prepares graduates to teach pupils of roughly 12 to 18 years of age. Unlike primary teachers, secondary teachers are subject specialists: they first study a discipline such as mathematics, history, biology or a language, and then learn how to teach it. Training therefore has two parts, knowledge of the subject and professional preparation in education, and countries combine them in different ways.

The professional part covers how adolescents learn and develop, how schools and curricula are organised, the teaching methods of the chosen subject, assessment, classroom management and guidance for pupils and families. Every programme includes supervised teaching practice in a school.

Qualifications and levels

  • Spain: a master's degree after the bachelor's. Teaching in compulsory secondary education (ESO), the Bachillerato, vocational training and official language schools is a regulated profession, and it requires an official master's degree. The Máster Universitario en Formación del Profesorado has 60 ECTS credits, normally one academic year. By ministerial order it includes at least a generic module of 12 credits (learning and development, educational processes, society, family and education), a subject-specific module of 24 credits and a practicum of 16 credits, which includes the master's thesis. It replaced the former CAP course.
  • United States: a bachelor's degree plus a state licence. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, all states require public high school teachers to have at least a bachelor's degree, many states require a major in a content area, and all states require public school teachers to be licensed or certified for the grade level they teach. Universities offer licensure within a bachelor's degree, after it, or together with a master's degree.
  • Other countries. Elsewhere the two parts are often combined in one teaching degree taken from the first year. Ask the university which school levels and subjects its qualification allows you to teach.

Admission

For the Spanish master's, applicants must show command of the subject they want to teach. Universities set a test for this, and holders of a degree that corresponds to the chosen speciality are exempt. Applicants must also prove a foreign language at CEFR level B1. In practice, the first degree decides the speciality: the Universidad Isabel I, for example, lists the bachelor's degrees that give direct access to each of its 11 specialities.

Applicants with a degree from outside Spain should ask the university how their degree is assessed for admission. Those who plan to teach in another country afterwards should check with that country's education authority whether the Spanish master's is recognised there, because teaching is regulated nationally.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 19 schools for secondary teacher training: nine in Spain, seven in the United States and one each in Chile, Argentina and Germany. Teaching is in the language of the country. In Spain the master's is taught in Spanish; the Universidad CEU San Pablo, for example, gives Spanish as the language of its programme.

Spanish universities offer the master's in several formats. The Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid teaches it on campus or in a blended format, with 60 ECTS and a choice of nine specialities. The Universidad Isabel I teaches it online, with 60 ECTS and 11 specialities; by law the practicum must be done in person at a school even when classes are online. Public universities in the directory, such as the Universidad de Almería, the Universidad de Murcia and the Universidad de Extremadura, also train secondary teachers.

In the United States, the University of Colorado Boulder offers teacher licensure for secondary education to undergraduates, to graduates who already hold a bachelor's degree, and through a master's programme that leads to an initial Colorado licence in secondary education.

When choosing, compare the specialities on offer (they must match your first degree), the format (on campus, blended or online), how school placements are organised and in which region, and the fees, which differ between public and private universities.

Careers

Graduates teach in public, state-subsidised and private secondary schools, vocational training centres and language schools. In Spain, permanent posts in public schools are filled through competitive examinations (oposiciones), for which the master's is a requirement; private schools hire directly. With experience, teachers move into roles such as head of department, guidance or school leadership.

For the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,087,500 high school teacher jobs in 2025 and projects little or no change in employment from 2025 to 2035. These figures refer to the United States only.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to become a secondary school teacher in Spain?

A university degree in the subject you want to teach and the official Máster Universitario en Formación del Profesorado, which has 60 ECTS credits. You must also prove a foreign language at level B1.

How long does the Spanish master's take?

It has 60 ECTS credits, normally one academic year, including a practicum of at least 16 credits with the master's thesis.

Can I take the master's online?

Some universities teach the classes online or in a blended format. The teaching practice must still be done in person at a school.

What is required in the United States?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public high school teachers need at least a bachelor's degree and a state licence or certification; many states require a major in the subject taught.