PGCE Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Education and Training)

This full-time qualification is open to all pre-service and in-service teachers, trainers and tutors in the Further Education and Skills sector. The certificate is designed for those who are employed or wish to be employed in a full teaching role. The course includes the compilation of a Professional Development Portfolio, completion of assignments which explore classroom strategies and important theories about teaching and learning.

Whilst studying towards this qualification you will work on the following:

• An initial assessment of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills and commencement of the Professional Development Portfolio
• Teaching, learning and assessment, including 75 hours of teaching practice and 4 hours of observed practice in each of the two years of the programme
• For those who already hold a PTLLS certificate, it must be at Level 4, with 20 credits in order to progress straight onto the Cert Ed/PGCE's second module.
• Action research and widening perspectives in education and training are undertaken in Year 2, along with the teaching, learning and assessment module.

Progression

Undergraduate trainees could progress onto degree level courses, whilst postgraduate students could progress onto further study at Masters level.

To work as a teacher or trainer in the further education training sector you will need to have Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. A popular way of achieving this is to successfully complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or Certificate in Education (Education and Training) programme which will then lead to a recommendation for QTLS.

Students need an honours degree or equivalent. Normally this is in the teaching subject specialism, A Level 3 (QCF) qualification in their teaching subject specialism, if this is not the degree subject, five GCSEs at Grade C/4 and above, or equivalent, to include English.