PGCE in Education (Secondary)

Please note: Initial Teacher Education is currently undergoing a range of changes initiated by the Government. PGCE programmes could change considerably by 2014. The information below refers to our 2013 offering and will be subject to change for 2014 entry applicants. For further information, please see the Initial Teacher Training Programmes website.

The Graduate School of Education is an OFSTED 'Outstanding Provider' and offers a one year programme for graduates leading to the award of a PGCE. It caters each year for over 200 students training to teach in secondary schools. Usually twothirds of our students are graduates of universities other than Bristol. The programme is approved by the National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) and leads to recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and 60 masters credits. In its February 2011 report, OFSTED commented that we recruit students who have the 'suitable attributes to develop into very effective teachers who are easily employed both locally and further afield'.

The programme is a minimum of 36 weeks in duration and starts in early September. Its structure may be most conveniently described in terms of three major components, though the timetable and approach underline the intention that they are strongly interrelated. These are:

• Curriculum Studies - main subject specialism
• Education and Professional Studies
• School Experience

Main Subjects

The main subjects offered are:

• Citizenship
• English
• Geography
• History
• Mathematics
• Modern Foreign Languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian in specific combinations only)
• Music
• Religious Education
• Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)