There is a tremendous amount of advice on this website about the alternative routes into academia. The focus of this article, however, is the traditional way of becoming a university lecturer.
Qualifications needed
If you wanted to become a lecturer fifty years ago, a post graduate qualification was not necessary, but the career has become so professionalized over the past few decades that now it is nearly impossible to get a permanent lectureship without having completed a PhD. The qualifications that you will need are a good bachelor's degree (2.1 or above), possibly a masters, and for almost all disciplines a PhD in the relevant field. You do not need a separate teaching qualification, although you may be offered the chance to do one while studying for your PhD. Alternatively this may be required during your first year in the lectureship job.
Teaching Experience needed
Hopefully while doing your PhD you have been planning your future career and working out ways to maximise your chances of getting a job. There are two main aspects to being a lecturer: lecturing (i.e. teaching) and research (with administration running a close, often undesirable, third). Different institutions prioritise research and teaching slightly differently and you need to find out which aspect is most important for the particular job you are interested in. As a general rule for the UK, Russell Group universities prioritise research whereas post-1992 institutions place more emphasis on teaching, but this is only a generalisation.
