Living and teaching in East Sussex

East Sussex is an ideal place to develop a teaching career. The county offers a wide variety of locations from small primary schools in beautiful rural areas to large urban secondaries.

Local schools and alliances support teachers at every career level from Early Career Teacher (ECT) to Executive Headteacher. Our Education Improvement Partnerships (EIPs) work together to improve outcomes for pupils at all schools. They offer training and development opportunities for teachers.
In East Sussex, system leaders work with schools besides the one that they work in. Specialist Leaders of Education are highly competent subject leaders who support teaching, learning and curriculum development in other schools, as well as Local Leaders of Education who are headteachers and senior leaders who coach and support their peers.  Find out more here.

Staff benefits

There are staff benefits for teachers in maintained schools. These include childcare vouchers, loans for cars or bikes and discounts on holidays, shopping and special promotions. Find out more.

Living in East Sussex

As a county, we benefit from combining rural beauty and stunning coastlines with easy access to London and the continent and diverse urban towns.

We are fortunate to have the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which includes the Ashdown Forest, home of Winnie the Pooh. National Trust properties include Scotney Castle, Standen, Bodiam Castle and Bateman’s, as well as the stunning views from Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters.

Our coastline includes Camber Sands, as well as the busy seaside towns of Eastbourne, Hastings and Brighton, which each have a unique range of shops, businesses, museums, galleries and theatres.

There is a large cycling network, the Bluebell Railway, and locations such as Bewl Water and Bedgebury National Pinetum provide great days out as well as a wider range of activities, such as live music and outdoor theatre.

Locate East Sussex have pulled together a list of the top ten reasons to live and work here.

Returning to teaching in East Sussex

If you are already a qualified teacher and thinking of working in East Sussex, the County Council website holds useful information here.

Return to teaching

If you are considering returning to teaching, or if you are qualified to teach but have never taught in a school, we would welcome you to a school in East Sussex. To find out your available options, including advice, support and resources regarding the latest Teacher Standards, plus changes to the National Curriculum, visit the Department for Education.

Search for vacancies

Find a list of current East Sussex teaching vacancies here, although not all schools and academies advertise on the County Council website so we recommend contacting some schools directly.

The Department for Education has recently launched a Teaching Vacancies Service. It is currently in development and therefore lists some but not all teaching jobs in England. Further teaching vacancies will continue to be added, so they recommend checking back regularly for new listings.

East Sussex Schools Directory

Search for specific schools, or download a list of all schools from the East Sussex County Council site here.

Concerned about your ICT skills?

For teachers who have been out of the profession for a while and are concerned about their ICT skills, the Department for Education have created a skills audit, to test their ICT knowledge.