Find out more about studying PGCE in Music with Specialist Instrumental Teaching at Royal Northern College of Music? We've gathered all the key details, entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
PGCE - Postgraduate Certificate of Education
Main Site
Full Time
Sep 2026
1 Year
This PGCE course is designed for graduates of universities and conservatoires who wish to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) whilst specialising in instrumental teaching. This includes teaching wind, brass, strings, percussion, voice, piano/keyboard, guitar, bass guitar and drums.
The RNCM runs this unique Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University (Man Met).
Who the PGCE is suitable for
This one-year full-time course offers instrumentalists and vocalists a range of distinctive features. If you want to learn how to teach music in a secondary school context and how to teach your own instrument and related family instruments or voice in a variety of different settings through innovative methodologies, then this is the course for you.
We are looking for outstanding musicians from all disciplines - including popular music, jazz and folk - who show a real passion for music education in all its guises and who strive to develop outstanding musicianship in their teaching practice.
How the PGCE is delivered
The PGCE is delivered at both the RNCM and Man Met, and during the year, trainees complete two teaching placements at secondary schools and Music Services in the North West.
At the RNCM: develop your teaching and performance skills
You will have the opportunity to develop your teaching and performance skills via integrated approaches to instrumental and vocal teaching. This includes focusing on embodied methodologies such as Dalcroze and Kodály. Instrumental pedagogy includes an introduction to related instruments within instrumental families while developing strategies for teaching individual, small group and whole class lessons. There is also a focus on developing your creative musicianship through classes on improvisation, aural and vocal approaches, ensemble leading/conducting, world music and educational research.
Experience in both classroom and music service settings equips graduates with all of the necessary skills to support the varied portfolio careers that young professional musicians and teachers undertake. Students will undertake teaching from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 5 (ages 7 - 18) in educational settings including primary, secondary, sixth form and special education needs.
These experiences are enabled through the outstanding professional collaboration that the RNCM has with its various Music Education Hub partners throughout the North West whose excellent teaching and mentorship provide the backbone of this course.
