Secondary Education in Religious Education with QTS PGCE

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Help young people achieve their potential. Become a confident and innovative RE teacher. Be part of the new generation of secondary school teachers.

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Overview

The PGCE Secondary Education in Religious Education will qualify you to teach RE at secondary level in any state-maintained school in England.

This one-year PGCE Religious Education course blends theoretical knowledge with carefully supervised teaching experience. You will attend placements in a variety of educational settings, to build a rich understanding of the realities of secondary level teaching.

In addition to the development of effective and engaging teaching styles, you will also be prepared to meet the requirements of RE within the National Curriculum and GCSE/A Level specifications. Subject enhancements in Humanities, British Values and SMSC are embedded as additional levels of specialist knowledge end employability.

Why us?

Funding for trainee teachers is available with tax-free bursaries of up to £10,000 for Religious Education trainees
All qualified teachers will have a starting salary of at least £30,000, and this will be higher for teachers working in London
Graduate with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and be eligible to teach in any state-maintained secondary school in England

The course is designed to enable you to spend 120 days in a school or other educational institution
The University of Sunderland has been training teachers for over 100 years

Course structure

This PGCE Religious Education course is taught via lectures, workshops, seminars, tutorials, Canvas (the Virtual Learning Environment), support from your personal tutors and teaching group.

Placements are an important part of this course. You will engage in work-based training through bespoke teaching placements in North East schools with specialised subject mentors.

Your progress will be assessed through electronic assignment submissions, case studies, observations, presentations and production and evaluation of learning resources.

Prior to starting the course, you are required to carry out a five-day Pre-Programme Placement, assisting and observing in a primary school of your own choice, with a focus on your elected route. This ensures that all trainees have recent and relevant experience in school settings at the start of the course.

Course modules

Emerging Professional Practice in Secondary Education with Subject Studies (30 credits)

This module will allow you to begin experiencing life in teaching institutions to help you gain professional knowledge around teaching and learning and start to make judgements about the routines, skills, and strategies that support effective teaching. You'll investigate the key content of subject areas taught within the curriculum, considering a variety of approaches to teaching your subject specialism and identifying common misconceptions.

Professional Practice in Secondary Education with Subject Studies (30 credits)

In this module, you'll continue to build on your knowledge around teaching and learning, gaining a variety of experience in a work-based learning environment to meet professional standards identified in government legislation. You'll continue to investigate the content of subject areas taught within the curriculum, considering the different approaches to teaching your own subject specialism. You'll also formulate skillful questioning to reveal levels of pupil understanding, encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their own academic progress.

Professional Learning in Secondary Education (30 credits)

This module will help you identify, refine, and develop knowledge and understanding of pedagogical approaches, adaptive teaching, planning, and assessment strategies. You'll reflect on pedagogical approaches by linking theory to practice in a reflective journal and present on your developed understanding of professional learning.

Subject Research Study in Secondary Education (30 credits)

This module will give you the opportunity to undertake a piece of independent academic study related to your subject specialism and engage in intellectual challenge and dialogue. You'll develop both general and subject specific knowledge and skills to enhance your ability to transfer learning to further study and the workplace.

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

More about PGCE Secondary Education in Religious Education with QTS at Sunderland

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You can access free Wi-Fi throughout the University campus, so you can work from anywhere. If you don't want to carry a laptop around, just use one of the University’s PCs or Macs. We have hundreds of computers for you to use in the Murray Library, St Peter's Library, and the David Goldman Informatics Centre. If you ever have any technical problems, just ask the friendly helpdesk team.
IT provision
University library services will be central to your study experience and are delivered at our two libraries on campus, as well as online. Our libraries offer a variety of study environments to meet your needs, including areas for groupwork, individual and silent study. You’ll also have access to desktop PCs, space to use your own mobile technology and printing facilities.

The library works closely with academic staff within each faculty to offer specialist, industry standard resources in your subject discipline. The Faculty of Education provides thousands of relevant books and e-books, with many more titles available through the inter-library loan service. You’ll also have access to a comprehensive range of print and electronic journals which are always kept up to date, including the EBSCO Professional Development Collection, Community Care Inform, JSTOR and many more.

To find out more information, visit our University Library website.
Library Services - education
Map and directions

Facilities

You'll be based at the recently refurbished Wearside View, situated on the award-winning Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's. This stunning riverside location benefits from dedicated library services and has superb transport links with the city centre and City Campus.

Entry requirements

Our typical offer is:

Qualification	Minimum grade
a Canadian bachelor's degree	GPA 2.40
a USA bachelor's degree	GPA 2.5

If you already hold a postgraduate qualification, please see our Applying for additional postgraduate degrees Help and Advice article.

If you don't meet our standard entry requirements, you can take one of the foundation pathways at our partners ONCAMPUS Sunderland. Find out more information and whether your course is eligible on our ONCAMPUS page.

If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk for further advice.

You'll usually need to hold a 2:2 (or above) honours degree from a UK Higher Education institution or an equivalent qualification and be deemed suitable to train to teach by the School of Education at the University of Sunderland.

In addition to academic qualifications, you must also:

Have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
Complete a medical pro forma (based on DFEE Circular 8/92).

If English isn't your first language, you'll also need International English Language Testing System (IELTS) at a score of 6.5, with at least 6.5 in writing, and no section below 6.0.

Your numeracy and literacy competency will be assessed continuously throughout the course, following the DfE’s removal of the Professional Skills Test.

You'll be assessed on your potential to learn and not your experience.

All successful applicants will be invited to an interview. Interviews start early November, so we recommend that you apply as soon as UCAS opens in October.

Please note, applicants with a foundation degree will need to supplement this qualification with at least 60 credits at level 6 (HE level 3) in order to attain an equivalent single qualification.

If you are accepted onto the course, you are advised to source your teaching placements prior to the start of the course, though this is not compulsory.

This course is subject to revalidation to meet the requirements for Initial Teacher Training from 2024.

Is your qualification not displaying here? For international qualifications, search our full list of international entry requirements for this course.

Fees and finance

Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

The Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's by night

Career ready

This degree awards Qualified Teacher Status, which means that when you graduate you’ll be qualified to teach in any state-maintained secondary school in England. Most graduates from this course go on to become a secondary school teacher.

Good teachers area always in high demand. All qualified teachers will have a starting salary of at least £30,000, and this will be higher for teachers working in London. The amount you earn will then increase until you reach the top end of your pay scale, after which you can choose to progress into more senior roles, such as leading practitioner or head teacher.

The teachers’ pension scheme is also one of the most generous public sector pension schemes in the UK, one of the few guaranteed by the Government.

School placements

The University of Sunderland has partnerships with over 650 schools, colleges and other educational establishments across the North East and beyond. The course is designed to enable you to spend 120 days in a school or other educational institution. We’ll work with you to try and find you the perfect teaching placement – schools that can nurture and support your aspirations and interests, and help you become the best secondary school teacher you can be.

Related courses

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Education and Society.

Page last updated: 11 July 2024

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.