Private school teacher jobs: B.Ed, CTET, the hiring season and pay

Picture a B.Sc B.Ed graduate in Jaipur who finishes in May and starts applying to private schools in June. Every school she calls says the same thing: "Staff is complete for this session, send your CV in January." She spends the year taking tuition at home, and in January she is one of forty candidates for a single TGT Science post at a CBSE school in Vaishali Nagar. What sets a candidate apart in that room is a CTET Paper II pass and a demo class the coordinator still remembers a week later.

That lost first year is the most common mistake in private school hiring: applying in the wrong season, without the one certificate CBSE schools are required to check. This piece gives you the calendar, the exam, the demo and the appointment letter, in that order.

Which degree qualifies you for which classes (and why a B.Ed doesn't cover classes 1–5) is in our teaching guide. Read that first if you are still choosing a course.

The hiring calendar for a private school job

International and Cambridge or IB schools often start hiring earlier in the year, because many of their teachers move between cities and countries.

CTET: the rule CBSE schools have to follow

The CTET bulletin from CBSE says it plainly: under the CBSE affiliation bye-laws, teachers appointed after 6 March 2012 to teach classes 1 to 8 in CBSE-affiliated schools must have passed CTET or a state TET conducted as per NCTE guidelines. Unaided private schools that are not CBSE-affiliated may choose whether to consider CTET.

So for primary and middle classes in a CBSE school, CTET or TET is not a nice extra. It's a requirement the school is answerable for.

The paper, as of the September 2026 bulletin

• Paper I (classes 1–5): 150 multiple-choice questions in two and a half hours. Child Development and Pedagogy, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Language I and Language II, 30 questions each.
• Paper II (classes 6–8): 150 questions in two and a half hours. Child Development and Pedagogy 30, Language I 30, Language II 30, and 60 questions in either Mathematics and Science or Social Studies.
• One mark per question, no negative marking. You pass at 60%; school managements may give concessions to reserved categories.
• The certificate is valid for life.
• Fee: ₹1,000 for one paper or ₹1,200 for both (General/OBC-NCL); ₹500 or ₹600 for SC, ST and differently abled candidates.

Take both papers if you have a B.Ed and want middle school, but also have a D.El.Ed or might teach primary later. If you only have a B.Ed, focus on Paper II.

If you are already teaching

The Supreme Court has made TET compulsory for in-service teachers too, with a deadline of 31 August 2028 to qualify. If you are teaching classes 1–8 without it, the December and the following CTET rounds are your window.

Which schools pay what

Pay in private schools varies enormously by the school's fee level, city and board. Of the teaching posts on Highlisted that stated pay in mid-November 2026, freshers were offered a median of about ₹2.6 lakh a year (only 23 posts), one to three years' experience about ₹3.6 lakh (51 posts) and three to seven years about ₹5.4 lakh (36 posts). That data includes coaching and corporate training roles, so school pay alone may sit a little lower.

Roughly, from lower to higher pay:

• Budget private schools in smaller towns, often state board
• Mid-fee CBSE and ICSE schools in tier-2 cities
• School chains and large CBSE schools in metros
• International schools with Cambridge or IB programmes, which also expect strong spoken English and often their own training

Where pay jumps: moving from TGT to PGT (a master's in your subject helps), becoming a subject coordinator or head of department, strong board results in your subject, and moving to a larger school group.

The demo class: how to stand out in 25 minutes

Almost every private school asks for a demo, either to a panel or to a real class. Here's a plan that works for most subjects:

1. 1First two minutes: a question or object that makes students curious. A Class 7 science demo on acids can start with a lemon and a glass of turmeric water.
2. 2Next ten minutes: teach one idea clearly, with a neat board plan: heading, two or three key points, one diagram.
3. 3Next eight minutes: get students doing something: solve, discuss in pairs, answer a quick question in their notebooks.
4. 4Last five minutes: check understanding with three quick questions, and give one small homework task.

Panels watch for things beyond content: do you know students' names by the end, do you move around the room, do you handle a wrong answer without embarrassing the child? Carry a printed one-page lesson plan and leave it with the coordinator.

The written test, if there is one, is usually your subject at the level you'll teach plus a short essay on classroom management. Our interview preparation guide covers the principal's round.

Read the appointment letter before the session starts

Private school letters vary a lot. Check these before you join:

• Pay in the summer break. Some schools pay for May and June; some don't for new joiners, or for probationers.
• Probation length and when you'll be confirmed.
• PF deduction. It should appear on your payslip. Ask for your UAN in the first month.
• Notice period and session-end rules. Many schools ask you to give notice only at session end, and some hold a month's salary. Know the rule before you sign.
• Workload: periods per week, and whether substitution and admin duties are included.

Our offer letter checklist explains the clauses in more detail. Original certificates should only be shown for verification, not kept by the school.