About the PGCE
What is our course like?
The Loughborough PGCE Course trains individuals to teach the 11-18 age range. It is formally registered with the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) as an 11-16 QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) course with post-16 enhancement. In effect, this means that all individuals on the PGCE Course will experience teaching the 11-16 curriculum as well as post-16, and will be qualified to take up teaching posts in all secondary schools covering the 11-19 age range.
The Loughborough PGCE has been designed by university staff and teachers from schools, and is intended to set you on the path to becoming a well informed and reflective professional. The heart of the course is the development of your teaching competences. The course lasts 36 weeks and will give you teaching experience in two different secondary schools. Two thirds of the course is spent in schools where you will have the support and guidance of experienced teachers. For the rest of the time, you will work in the university with tutors and teachers who prepare you for your school experience, and guide you in making the important links between the theoretical and practical components of the course.
Our course will help you to:
- learn how to teach and relate to young people in a variety of learning situations;
- develop the ability to plan sequences of lessons, and to teach and manage pupils effectively;
- gain the confidence and competence to undertake your full role as a teacher within a secondary school;
- develop sufficient knowledge and understanding of educational issues to be able to contribute effectively to the highest standards of teaching and learning, and to whole school improvement.
Alongside teaching experience in schools, you will undertake two other elements within the course:
- Subject Methods courses in which you learn to teach your chosen subject (Design and Technology, Physical Education, Science or Physics with Maths).
- General Professional Studies through which you come to understand the framework of the education system and how to contribute professionally to the wider role of the teacher responsible for the personal, social and health education of pupils.
What are your job prospects?
Loughborough University PGCE trainees have a very good record of gaining fulfilling first teaching posts and many have gone on to rewarding careers at the highest levels of leadership in the profession. You are given support and advice in completing applications for teaching posts and you will leave Loughborough confident of what the profession can offer you, and what you can offer the profession.
What about accommodation?
We STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you opt for accommodation off campus because the PGCE course is longer than undergraduate courses and the flexibility is more suitable to your life as a trainee teacher. You are also strongly advised to live within close proximity to the university.
The Student Accommodation Centre can help you to find suitable accommodation off campus; they can be contacted directly by telephone (01509-222258) or by e-mail (sac@lboro.ac.uk).
What do our trainees say?
"The last year has just flown by. I have become a teacher in that short time, all thanks to the PGCE course at Loughborough which has prepared me very well for the demands of a teaching career.
"The university lectures and assignments provide essential basic skills and ideas in preparation for the teaching practices - this is when you learn the reality of life as a teacher. With close support from a teacher mentor, the teaching practices allow you to develop and progress from a raw, nervous trainee, into a capable, confident, class teacher. A key element of the course was sharing the ideas and experiences of fellow trainees as well as those of the supportive tutors and teacher mentors. The course was hard work, demanding and exhausting but ... brilliant fun and very rewarding - it mimics life as a teacher perfectly!"
Neill Gregg (PGCE Trainee)
"This was probably the most fulfilling ten months of my life and definitely the most tiring! The course took me from an inexperienced wannabee teacher to a fully fledged real teacher through a series of well organised lectures, interactive seminars and well structured school placements. The excellent teaching practices were an incredible insight into the realities of teaching. The learning curve was very steep and I was often both mentally and physically exhausted. The lectures were detailed and gave me the knowledge to go forward and teach. However, there was still much to learn in my own time and although this was difficult at first, by the end of the course it was second nature.
"The satisfaction on completing the course was immense, even if it does feel as though I've just survived a whirlwind! If you have the enthusiasm and the aptitude to teach, the PGCE course at Loughborough will provide you with everything you need. Enjoy it!"
Victoria Lindsey (PGCE Trainee)