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Overview

If you're looking for a rewarding career where you can make a positive difference to other people's lives, teaching is a great choice – and on our PGCE courses, you'll gain you the skills and confidence you need to become an outstanding secondary school teacher.

On this course, you'll be supported by our tutors and school-based mentors as you learn to plan and deliver lessons with strong subject knowledge, confidence and imagination, while reflecting on what it means to teach. You can study full time over 1 year, or part time over 2.

We've got excellent links with many schools in the region – so when you finish your course, you'll graduate with excellent career prospects, and eligibility for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) too.

What you'll experience

The PGCE has three interconnected strands – Curriculum Studies, Professional Studies and School Experience – so the skills and knowledge you pick up can be practised and built on with teaching experience. You'll hone your teaching skills in whichever of the following subject areas you choose:

• English
• Mathematics
• Geography
• Modern Foreign Languages
• Computer Science
• Science (with biology, physics or chemistry)

On this course, you'll:

• Develop your teaching skills through practical activity and the study of theories and contemporary issues in education
• Share your experience and learn from other students through lectures and seminars
• Learn key teaching skills, including lesson planning, classroom management, and special needs and inclusion
• Develop your subject-based knowledge
• Get work experience in a teaching placement, where you'll work closely with mentors and other school staff
• Study a range of topics including pedagogy and practice based research; lesson planning; behaviour management; assessment, and special education needs and inclusion

Careers and opportunities

Once you graduate, you'll be ready to start your teaching career. Over 90 per cent of Portsmouth PGCE graduates go into full-time teaching, and once you're an established teaching professional, you'll have opportunities for further career progression in roles including year head and subject leader.

Professional accreditations

Our PGCE degree course is an accredited qualification and once you graduate, you'll be eligible for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

QTS is awarded by the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) to identify that a person meets all the Teachers’ Standards and criteria. QTS is required in England to teach in a state school that is under local authority control and in special schools. QTS is also recognised in some countries outside England and Wales.