What is a PGCE?

‘PGCE’ or ‘Post-Graduate Certificate of Education’ is simply the title of the award that is made to postgraduate students who successfully complete a university-accredited programme of initial teacher education. It isn’t actually a very good label for the traditional route into teaching since most routes into teaching may actually offer a PGCE if a university is involved in the programme and accredits a number of the assignments at Master’s level.

What are the distinguishing features of a ‘traditional’ or ‘university-led’ PGCE programme?

The distinguishing feature of the traditional PGCE route is simply that the training place has been allocated to a university working in partnership with local schools (rather than that it has been allocated directly to a school). Although the DFE refers to such core placements as ‘university-led’, the fact is that all teacher training programmes require trainee teachers to spend a minimum of two-thirds of their time in schools. Even on the most traditional kind of course – a 36-week programme that begins with some time in a university – trainee teachers will spend at least 24 weeks in school. Obviously, no university can ‘lead’ such a programme without very close collaboration and joint planning with the schools in their partnership! Because ‘university-led’ routes tend to have been running for many years, they often have the most securely established partnership arrangements and strong communities of subject mentors across their local schools.

How much school experience is there on traditional PGCE course and how is it structured?

Beyond the core requirement (established back in 1992) that at least 24 weeks should be allocated to school-based professional learning, the precise format of PGCE courses can vary quite significantly. Some courses begin with a period of time in the university – providing a basic framework for your subsequent learning. Others offer a ‘serial’ placement from the start (part-time in school, part-time in the university) ensuring that you can connect your classroom experiences to more systematic consideration of what learning and teaching history involves and of how that learning can be most effectively structured and assessed, given what we know about young people’s development and about the nature of the subject.

While all training routes require you to gain experience in two different school contexts, some partnerships have two equal length placements; others opt for one longer and one shorter placement, allowing you time to develop your practice to a high level in one context before offering the opportunity to test and refine that practice in a different context. Some insert a very short, contrasting experience in the middle of your main school experience, allowing you to reflect on the differences and perhaps bring back new ideas with which to experiment.

Because PGCE trainees are not paid members of staff that have to take full responsibility for classes from the very beginning, your school experience is structured to give you a gradual introduction to teaching, allowing you to build up the number and range of classes that you teach as your confidence and expertise develops.

As well as finding out how different courses sequence the two school placements in relation to the university-based elements, you may also find it helpful to look at how time is divided (particularly in the university) between a history-specific focus and more general ‘professional studies’ (examining those aspects of professional work that are common to all teachers). Since one of the key benefits of applying to ‘university-led’ partnerships is that they can bring together subject groups of trainees who have placements in different partner schools, you may also want to find out how many history trainees there would be altogether on the programme. 

What qualifications do I need to apply for a PGCE?

Different university/school partnerships may have different requirements, but because teaching is competitive, most will expect you to have at least a second-class degree (and often a 2.1) in a national curriculum subject. (You also need to have achieved a GCSE grade 4/C – or overseas equivalent – in maths and English.) 

Many applicants have prior experience working in schools as a teaching assistant or cover supervisor, but this is not a formal requirement. However, all providers will look for experience related to your interest in working with young people and many stipulate that you should gave spent some time observing lessons in a state-maintained school.

What kind of assignments would I have to write as part of the PGCE qualification?

The precise nature and number of assignments varies between different courses, but they will always be closely related to the practical work of teaching – encouraging you to link your reading of research and professional literature to your classroom experiences. In most cases the PGCE will carry an award of 60 Master’s level credits – equivalent to one third of a full Master’s degree. Many teachers later opt to complete a full Master’s qualification with further part-time study and school-based action research.

What are the fees for on a university-led PGCE route and what financial support is available?

A postgraduate teacher training year is effectively treated like another year of an undergraduate degree – with trainees paying ‘student’ fees and eligible for student loans. Different courses will have slightly different fees. For full details of any potential bursaries see the funding pages of the DFE ‘Get Into Teaching’ website.