Course Overview

This PGCE course prepares you to teach your specialist subject, alongside your relevant EBacc subject, in either the 11-16 (with post-16 enhancement) or 14-19 age phases. It is a suitable course with around two-thirds of the time spent in schools, primarily working with teachers and pupils, and around one-third spent on directed study, with partnership training in the University and school. It is an integrated academic and professional teaching preparation, combining postgraduate or professional study with practical training to meet the Teachers’ Standards.

The route allows you to teach both subjects and develop insights into the pedagogies required to succeed in these disciplines. While on teaching placement, you will predominantly teach PE and will only be assessed against the Teachers' Standards in your PE lessons, but you will also teach your second subject. The strength behind this teaching route is that it offers greater flexibility in your teaching employment, and it gives schools something more than just having the ability to teach PE.

The BGU secondary Physical Education PGCE is run by professionals who have worked within various secondary schools and continually trained the next generation of Physical Education teachers. The course is designed so you will feel equipped to teach and become an outstanding secondary teacher confidently.

You will consider the broader aspects of teaching, contexts for learning, the latest government initiatives, and contemporary issues in teaching, learning, and assessment. You will also work alongside trainee teachers of other subjects to consider cross-curricular aspects of education. These topics will introduce you to your career in the teaching profession.

Throughout your year of study, you will explore all aspects of your subject. This includes those areas that are your strengths and areas you may need to improve upon. You will study how pupils learn in your subject area, how you need to assess them, and how to keep abreast of new developments within your subject. You will learn how to plan and deliver topics that meaningfully include all types of learners.

You will spend two-thirds of the year in partner schools and other educational settings, gaining rich and varied experiences designed to support meeting the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) standards. Working with peers, tutors, and school-based colleagues, you will develop your abilities to promote effective learning among 11-16-year-olds. You will also have opportunities to gain experience in the critical stages before and after which you qualify.

This course is demanding and stimulating. We aim for you to be prepared to take responsibility for your learning, be open to creative and innovative ideas, and be competent, reflective practitioners in your training year and beyond. Success on the course means you will have completed a postgraduate (with 60 credits at Master's level) or professional graduate qualification, have met all the Qualified Teacher Status Standards, and be ready to start the next year as a Newly Qualified Teacher.

During a recent Ofsted inspection in 2015, it was noted that the key strengths of the course are:

• the “vision for continuous improvement.”

• our “involvement in current educational research.”

• Our warm and caring ethos “provides trainees with very high-quality levels of pastoral care and support.”

This Secondary PGCE course is available through both Core and School Direct routes.

Any applicants to the PE with EBacc route must have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C or better at A level in the relevant EBacc subject.

General Eligibility

For all PGCE Secondary specialisms, you will generally need the following:

• GCSEs at grade 4 (previously C) or above (or equivalent) in English Language and Mathematics. Please see our list of accepted equivalents.

• A relevant honors degree at a 2:2 classification or above. (Where the degree result is to be awarded in the year of application, we will require a predicted degree classification as part of an academic reference provided on the application)

• Any applicants to the PE with EBacc route must have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C or better at A level in the relevant EBacc subject.

Part Time Work Details

20 hours of work permit weekly for international students.

Language Requirement

• N/A