Field entry, published 2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z, updated 2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z. Group: Teaching and education occupations

How are secondary teachers classified?

Secondary teachers belong among Professionals in ISCO-08, in the secondary education area of the teaching professionals group. Their main work is teaching one or more subjects to students at secondary school level, within a school curriculum, with preparation, assessment, and pastoral care forming part of the same job.

What level of schooling marks the boundary?

Secondary schooling follows primary schooling and precedes higher education, and that position in the school system is what defines the group. Students are adolescents, the curriculum is organised by subject, and teaching builds toward examinations, further study, or entry to work. A teacher of the same subject at primary level works with younger children across a broader curriculum, so the job differs in method and scope even when a topic overlaps. A lecturer in a further education college who teaches adults toward a vocational qualification also differs, because the institution, the learner group, and the purpose of the course point elsewhere. Age alone is not the test, and school structures vary by country, but the stage of schooling in the national system is the anchor.

What subjects sit together here?

Secondary teaching groups subjects together rather than giving each subject its own classification home. Languages, mathematics, sciences, humanities, arts, technology, physical education, and social sciences all sit in the same broad area when they are taught as school subjects at secondary level. That grouping reflects a shared teaching specialisation, namely subject teaching for adolescents, rather than a claim that the subjects themselves are similar. A physics teacher and a literature teacher therefore sit near each other in ISCO-08, even though their knowledge bases differ completely. The subject matters for describing the job, for staffing, and for professional identity, but it does not split the secondary teaching group into separate classification areas.

How do secondary teachers differ from primary teachers in the scheme?

Primary teaching is organised around a class and a broad curriculum, with one teacher often covering many subjects for the same children across a school day. Secondary teaching is organised around subjects and timetabled classes, with a teacher meeting many groups for a narrower slice of the curriculum. That contrast shapes preparation, marking, and relationships with learners. A secondary teacher plans sequences within a subject, tracks progress across year groups, and often contributes to examination preparation and subject department work. A primary teacher plans across subjects, tracks the same children more holistically, and manages transitions within a day. Both jobs demand high skill, yet the specialisation differs enough for ISCO-08 to keep them apart.

The work of a secondary teaching job often runs in this order:

1. Planning lessons and sequences within a subject curriculum
2. Teaching timetabled classes and managing classroom learning
3. Setting homework, coursework, and tests, then marking and feeding back
4. Recording progress and reporting to learners, parents, and colleagues
5. Contributing to subject department planning and school life
6. Supporting learners pastorally and guiding subject and study choices

What about teachers who cover more than one level?

Mixed level jobs are placed by the level that dominates the work. A teacher who mainly teaches secondary classes, with a few lower school classes, stays with secondary teachers, while a teacher who mainly teaches primary classes, with occasional secondary cover, stays with primary teachers. Where the split is genuinely even, the classification looks to the job description, the timetable, and the responsibility for curriculum planning, rather than to a single lesson. Supply and cover teaching follows the same rule, judged by the level actually taught in that job, not by the teacher’s usual level or qualification. A secondary teacher covering a primary class for a day does not change groups, because a short assignment does not remake the main job.

What neighbouring jobs are easy to confuse?

Heads of department and year heads can sit close to secondary teachers, and the test is again the main task. A head of department who still teaches a substantial timetable, with department coordination added, remains a secondary teacher in general terms, while a deputy head or headteacher whose work is dominated by whole school leadership belongs with education managers. Teaching assistants, laboratory technicians, and school counsellors are neighbours in the building, not in the group, because their main tasks are support, technical work, or guidance rather than subject teaching. Private tutors who teach secondary subjects outside school are judged by level and subject responsibility, so a tutor with a regular secondary curriculum and assessment role resembles a secondary teacher in classification terms, while a homework helper without that responsibility does not.

Sources checked

1. ILO ISCO-08

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