Primary 5-11 Years PGCE

Intro

Our Primary 5-11 years PGCE leads to Qualified Teacher Status and will equip you with the skills and knowledge to become a confident and competent teacher specialising in Key Stage 1 and Key stage 2.

Our teaching graduates benefit from excellent employment rates that are consistently above the sector average. Plus, we’ll continue to support you through your first few years as an early career teacher.

At Brighton you’ll train to teach with an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ provider and be educated by an expert team who have their own successful experience as primary education practitioners.

You’ll gain practical experiences in two carefully selected schools – we have over 600 placement partners offering a variety of opportunities in large, small, urban and rural settings. We’ll make sure you are fully prepared and supported to make the most of your time in school-based training.

At university you’ll learn in our specialist facilities that replicate those used in schools so you’ll feel at home when you go on your school-based-training. We also have a curriculum centre with over 30,000 resources to support you in the classroom.

Brighton is one of the UK's largest teacher training universities and has been educating teachers and leaders for over 100 years.

Course structure

This is an intensive year, with two-thirds of the course based in partnership schools and the remainder in lectures, seminars and independent study. Inherent to this programme are the government's national priorities and we will give you support while thoroughly addressing these issues.

In line with government requirements, you will spend the majority of your course gaining experience in schools, where you will spend 24 weeks teaching under supervision.

Our tutors and mentors will advise and support you throughout each placement. We will give you plenty of comprehensive feedback during this time, which will enable you to see what you are doing well and where you might need to improve.

You will benefit from experiencing school-based training in two different schools and age-phases. The first phase of school-based training runs simultaneously to the University-based programme, which ensures that teaching theory is effectively integrated with practice.  

We believe in nurturing and facilitating your opportunities to discuss and critically evaluate effective teaching practices through small interactive seminar groups, which complement larger-group lectures.

All students are enrolled onto the Postgraduate Certificate in Education but an alternative exit award, the Professional Graduate Certificate in Education, which also includes QTS, is available if you do not achieve the masters-level elements of the postgraduate programme.

Areas of study

You will explore the subject curriculum areas for Key Stages 1 and 2, and practise the strategies and skills that encourage you to interpret the curriculum confidently and creatively. The programme is designed to encourage teaching practice that you can continually reflect upon and critique.

You will study modules that investigate learning and teaching throughout the two Stages within the context of child development as a whole. 

Our teaching and learning strategies go across and beyond subject areas, to ensure inclusive practice and equal, effective teaching of children from a diverse range of backgrounds. 

You will engage in a masters-level school-based Professional Enquiry module, focusing on an aspect of your own professional development.