How to Write a Teacher Cover Letter (+ Examples)

Being a teacher means much more than just teaching facts and figures. It's about shaping the future by instilling values and intellect in young minds. 

You have the power to set a positive influence in children's emotional, moral, and intellectual development. It may not always be apparent, but the impression you leave on your students can last a lifetime.  

If your job search is starting to feel like being stuck in detention, it’s time to polish your teacher cover letter. With this article, your cover letter will stand out like a straight-A student. You'll learn how to write a teacher cover letter that gets you the job, based on ready-to-use teaching cover letter examples.

Use the LiveCareer cover letter builder and your cover letter will write itself. Choose a professional template, answer a few easy questions and the creator will generate a professional cover letter for you with just one click.

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Looking for other cover letter examples? See our guides for:

• Administrator Cover Letter
• Administrative Assistant Cover Letter
• PhD Cover Letter
• Research Assistant Cover Letter
• Teaching Assistant Cover Letter
• Training Contract Cover Letter

Haven't found what you're looking for? See all our cover letter examples.

Teacher Cover Letter Example

How to write a cover letter for a teaching job?

Your cover letter (also called a letter of application) should demonstrate your passion for teaching and explain how your teaching approach and methods align with the school's mission and values. Focus on qualifications and experiences that make you an excellent candidate for a given role. Your cover letter must use formal language and a professional and clean format to maintain clearance and readability.

This teacher cover letter consistently comes top of the class. Now, here’s a quick lesson in writing your own cover letter:

1. Use a professional header in your teacher cover letter 

Address your teaching cover letter as you would any other business letter: contact details, including email and phone, should be on the right. Below, the hiring person’s or headteacher’s details should be on the left. Right underneath, write the date and subject of the letter, which would be the title of the position you’re applying for. For academic purposes, this may also be referred to as motivation letter.

I recommend that you address the headteacher by their surname with a formal salutation, not forgetting to use the appropriate academic title.

Teaching cover letter—header

You can adjust every cover letter created in the builder to meet the job requirements. Choose the name of your profession and the company to which you’re applying, and the LiveCareer cover letter builder will automatically adapt the content for you. Create a cover letter faster than you ever thought possible and apply for the job in record time.

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2. Hook them into your teaching cover letter

According to NAHT, there are only 0.3%, or around 1350 teachers being hired a year, so you need to make every application count. The opening paragraph of your cover letter for a teaching job must make them read on. Sum up your years of experience, explain your motivation for joining, and back it up with your strongest achievement.

Don’t waste space writing what position you’re applying to—the subject line is for that. Go straight into explaining why you’re a very strong candidate for this position. I encourage you to make this paragraph between 40 and 80 words. 

Teacher cover letter—opening example

3. Highlight achievements in your cover letter for teaching jobs

The main body of your cover letter should include your achievements and results, and also the depth of your experience. See not only the job ad, but also the school website for what’s important to them, and relate your experience to it. 

This makes up the majority of your teacher cover letter, between 120 and 200 words. 2 to 4 most key points should be sufficient to pique their interest and have something to talk about in the interview. Back up your performance with numbers where possible.

Let me show you this teacher cover letter example:

Teacher cover letter—main paragraph example

You don’t have to create any content yourself. The LiveCareer cover letter generator will automatically suggest the best content for your cover letter with ready-made examples and expert tips.

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4. Conclude your teaching cover letter with a call to action

By this stage, you have probably aced the test—an interview being your reward. However, if you haven’t, the last paragraph is space for another A* argument, or to tie up all the other arguments and evidence. Relate it directly to the challenges at the new school.

Explain how your previous experience shows that you’re going to handle their reality with ease. Ask for an interview under the guise of discussing an issue further. This applies whether you're sending a speculative cover letter or responding to a job posting. This should be 60-80 words total. Sign off on your cover letter formally. Don’t send it just yet!

Teacher cover letter—example closing

5. Use a professional teacher cover letter format

If you see the best cover letter examples for teachers, they all have one thing in common—a professional, organised look. They also all fit on one page. Follow these easy rules to create a teaching cover letter structure that’s easy on the eyes: 

Teaching cover letter length rules

How long should a cover letter be?

• 200-350 words total
• Half a page of A4, up to 1 page of A4.
• 1st paragraph—between 60 and 80 words
• 2nd paragraph—between 120 and 200 words
• 3rd paragraph—between 40 and 60 words

Match the CV style

The style of your teacher CV and a teaching cover letter should match—as they form one document together. It is recommended to use a simple template for enhanced readability.

One cover letter for one school

One school can vary wildly from another. They have different cultures, different attitudes, different problems. A bit of research will make it possible for you to target your teacher cover letter to their expectations. During this process, you will also understand a bit more about where you would like to work yourself. 

Pick a readable font

Ever get an essay written in Comic Sans? Doesn’t really matter what the content is, it doesn’t look right. I recommend that you choose a sensible font like Noto, Didot or Arial, and stay between sizes 10 and 12.

Use even margins

For a neat cover letter layout, set even margins on all sides, 1-inch minimum. If your cover letter is on the short side, you can frame it with a 1.5 inch margin.

Use white space 

Apply 1.15 line spacing in your teacher application letter. Leave a line between each section, and between paragraphs. Lines of space between sections and paragraphs will direct the reader’s eyes. If your text is getting blocky, consider using bullet points for key achievements.

Save in PDF

One last piece of advice from myself. Save your teaching cover letter in the PDF format to protect your formatting, unless the job posting specifies otherwise or you're writing an email cover letter.

A cover letter alone simply won’t be enough—you need an impactful CV, too. Create your CV in minutes. Just follow our wizard and fill in every CV section with ready-made content. Get started by choosing a professional CV template.

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Got more questions on how to write a cover letter for teaching jobs? Any insider tips? Did you find the teacher cover letter examples helpful? Let me know in a comment!

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Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.