Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) PGCE

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Share your love of learning. Use your specialist subject knowledge every day. Help people discover new interests and careers.

Generous bursary available!

Learning, teaching and assessment in 2021/22

Overview

The PGCE in Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) is a professional teacher education programme that will qualify you to teach in the post compulsory education and training sector.

This course is designed for graduates with degrees from a wide range of subjects, including those not widely taught in secondary schools (such as Sport Science, Health and Social Care and Dance). It will equip you with the necessary tools to teach adults and young people and give you the opportunity to share your knowledge in a way that helps others to fulfil their potential.

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

If you are already employed in the PCET sector, we also offer an In-Service Part-Time PGCE (PCET).

Why us?

Teacher Training support bursaries ranging from £12,000 to £26,000 are available
The course helps you to plan and teach lively, interesting and challenging lessons with confidence and expertise
You'll be taught by a highly qualified team who are extremely research active and lead on a number of sector research projects
Provides unique opportunities for you to work collaboratively to research and improve your teaching in ways employers really notice

'World-leading' research in Education, according to the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF)
The course is directly informed by both the national and international educational research and development work of the University of Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teaching Training (SUNCETT) team
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Course structure

Contact time is 8 hours per week in an encouraging and productive learning environment that provides student teachers with opportunities, time and space to develop their knowledge of theory, and refine their teaching practice alongside highly experienced and research-active teachers and teacher-educators.

We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methods, including; interactive teaching, lectures, seminars, practical teaching workshops, tutorials, directed learning and group work.

You will also be expected to successfully complete a minimum of 100 hours of teaching practice placement over the course.

Assessment methods include assignments, seminars, presentations and formative and summative observations of teaching practice.

This course is for people who don’t have previous experience of teaching. If you are already employed in the Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) sector, you may be interested in our part-time Post Compulsory Education and Training in-service PGCE.

Modules on this course include:

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (20 credits)
Developing Theories of Teaching Learning and Assessment in PCET (20 credits)
Subject Specialist Knowledge and Pedagogy: English Literacy (20 credits) English pathway only
Subject Specialist Knowledge and Pedagogy (Special Educational Needs and Disability) (20 credits)
Subject Specialist Knowledge and Pedagogy (Maths: Numeracy) (20 credits)
Subject Specialist Knowledge and Pedagogy (Computing) (20 credits)
Practical Teaching and Professional Development 2 (20 credits)
Developing Curriculum and Implementing Policy in Post Compulsory Education and Training (30 credits)
Advancing Subject Specialist Teaching through Critical Reflection and Professional Development (30 credits)

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

Facilities

You'll be based at The David Goldman Informatics Centre, situated on the award-winning St Peter's riverside campus. The 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 will usually need 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.

You must also have:

An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
A completed medical pro forma (based on DFEE Circular 8/92)

If you are invited for an interview, you will be asked to complete a pre-interview written task, participate in a group activity and complete a short in-house literacy assessment.

If English is not your first language, you will 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. If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.

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.

The way you apply for teacher training is changing.

The Department for Education (DfE) has developed a new GOV.UK application service, Apply for teacher training, for those applying for a postgraduate teacher training course. This new service will eventually replace the current UCAS Teacher Training portal for postgraduate teacher training.

Apply for teacher training is user friendly, simple to use and flexible. It will allow candidates from a wider and more diverse pool of talent to showcase their skills, experience and potential to be excellent teachers. The University of Sunderland is an early adopter of this new service; please use the Apply now button at the top of this page for more information.

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

Fees and finance

The annual, full-time, fee for this course is:

£9,250 if you are from the UK/Europe*
£12,500 if you are an international student

*European Union (EU), EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss nationals are classed as international, however 21/22 entrants will receive a European student fee scholarship and will pay the (postgraduate) home tuition fee rate for the duration of their studies. The discounted fee will be reflected on your offer letter. Learn more in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

A limited number of Teacher Training support bursaries are available for those studying Computing, Engineering, Maths, Sciences, SEND and English ranging from £12,000 to £26,000. Your eligibility for these bursaries will be discussed with you in your interview. For more information visit the Get into Teaching website.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

Career ready

When you complete this course, you will have a PGCE in Post Compulsory Education and Training.

According to our 2015 Ofsted inspection, “the training of good-quality Further Education and skills teachers enables them to make a valued contribution to the colleges and settings in which they work”.

Teacher Training placement

Placements are an essential part of this degree. We will help to arrange a minimum of 100-hours teaching practice placement in the Learning and Skills sector, over the course of your one year of study. Your Teaching Practice Placement will provide you with valuable opportunities to work alongside experienced teachers and to learn how to design, deliver, assess and evaluate teaching and learning in the sector. You will be supported and guided by a Subject Specialist Mentor who will be allocated to you through the University of Sunderland’s Placement Office. Please note that you will be expected to pay for your own travel to and from placement. When you’re ready to start searching for a teaching job, you will already have a wide network of professional contacts who can help you find the right opportunities.

Career opportunities

Previous graduates of this course have been employed in the following areas:

Further Education colleges
Sixth Form colleges
Training organisations
Prison education

Following successful completion of the course, and once in a teaching post, you will be able to apply to the Society for Education and Training (SET) who provide the recognition route to Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status through their professional formation process.

Meet the students

Sunderland Futures were fantastic at providing careers advice and helped me apply for the PCET

Olivia Cummings
I give my thanks to the We Care Team. It’s wonderful that such a team exists at the University.

Ryan Boyle
I was most impressed by the availability of the teaching staff and the inclusivity I observed

Tania Watson

Related courses

PGCE Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) Pre-Service

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: 22 September 2021

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