PGCE Secondary (School Direct)

Course description

This course is made up of both campus-based sessions - which will give you a grounding in the principles of good teaching practice - and school-based placements giving you the chance to apply your knowledge and experience a wide range of classroom situations. These placements will be in contrasting schools to give you a broad range of experience - they could be in city, suburban or rural schools, in the independent or state sector.

By the end of the course you will achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and awarded a University of Leicester PGCE.

Teaching and learning

Your learning will consist of a combination of university-based classes and school-based teaching placements where you will get hands-on experience of teaching a range of classes. Our course has been praised by external examiners for its focus on reflection. You will be encouraged to evaluate your own teaching and share your learning with your peers.

Throughout your PGCE course you'll have the support of a range of tutors and the confidence this brings. We’ll make sure you have the right support at the right time - whether that's at university, in school or within your own specific discipline.

Careers and employability

We will support you in applying for teaching posts. The mock interviews we include as part of the course have directly resulted in job offers for our students.

We foster your continued relationship with Education at Leicester once you become an NQT by supporting your career development in a number of ways.

We offer a range of professional development opportunities for practicing teachers, and we offer Masters courses with a focus on Learning and Teaching, Educational Leadership, TESOL and Applied Linguistics.

Our PhD opportunities are very popular with those wishing to pursue a particular research interest at doctoral level. We are committed to training excellent teachers during the PGCE and beyond, and we are proud that so many of our students return to us for further study once qualified.

Students need to have: 2:1 degree for English, Geography, History or Social Science; 2:2 degree for Maths, MFL, Sciences or RE; GCSE Grade C or above in English Language and Maths; A-levels (or equivalent) in relevant subjects; A pass in the Professional Skills Tests in literacy and numeracy. Although not essential, you may find it useful to have recent experience working with children and/or observing teaching in a school setting, ideally relating to the age range/subject you wish to teach. When writing your application you should try to reflect on your experience and tell us what you learnt. You must have a GCSE Grade C in English Language.