PGCE Citizenship

The Citizenship PGCE offers students the opportunity to be trained at the leading edge of citizenship education for the 11–16 age range, becoming one of the next generation of specialist teachers of Citizenship and associated subjects such as Government and Politics, Humanities, Social Sciences, Law and PSHE. You will learn how to really engage students in Citizenship lessons, how to plan for compelling learning in Citizenship, how to support and challenge students to make optimum progress, how to build strong class boundaries and relationships, how to develop and utilise specialist subject knowledge, and how to plan memorable Active Citizenship projects.

Graduates of this programme are currently working across a broad range of areas. Most graduate to become teachers of Citizenship and related subjects, such as RE, Politics, Humanities, Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, PHSE, Health and Social Care, Media Studies and Law. Graduates in this area can also be found working as education officers for charities and museums, local authority education advisers and as researchers and writers. The upward career trajectory within schools is often rapid for Citizenship graduates, with many working as heads of department, heads of faculty, heads of year or as part of schools’ senior leadership teams.

Graduates of the Secondary PGCE programme are highly employable and sought after by schools and colleges in London and beyond. Almost all graduates secure their first teaching post by the time they finish the PGCE programme. Graduates of the programme also have great career prospects, with many becoming Head of Department or a Head of Year within 2-5 years, often acting, in their schools, as mentors to new PGCE student teachers. Many of our graduates become senior teachers (such as Assistant Headteachers or Head of a Faculty) in 5-8 years of graduating, and some are now Headteachers. Others have developed their careers as subject specialist teachers and educators, both becoming lead teachers in the classroom and researching, writing and advising other teachers themselves. The Secondary PGCE Programme aims to provide a springboard into a rewarding career as a skilled teacher and future educational leader.

A minimum of a lower second-class UK Bachelor’s degree or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard in a related subject.