Entry requirements

Applicants for the Secondary PGCE are required to have achieved the following prior to admission to the programme:

An honours degree at a minimum of 2:2 in a relevant subject, or a related subject with at least 50% relevant subject content;
Grade C GCSE in English/Welsh (students applying for the Welsh medium programme will be required to have a GCSE in Welsh);
Grade C GCSE in Maths

The GCSE Grade C in English/Welsh and Mathematics are a requirement set by the Welsh Government.

All interviews will be held virtually (using Microsoft Teams) with a PGCE subject specialist through the medium of English or Welsh as desired. The format will consist of a short interview and professional discussion.

All PGCE students will complete a Digital Competence audit on enrolment and have digital competence training embedded into their PGCE programme of study.

All applicants will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check. Applicants must not have been excluded from teaching or working with children nor be registered with the DBS as unfit for working with children or young persons (please see additional costs section).

All applicants must meet the requirements of the Education Health Standards (Wales) confirming their health and physical capacity to teach.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Secondary PGCE with QTS at Swansea University will prepare you to meet the new Professional Teaching and Leadership Standards for Wales (at a level appropriate for Newly Qualified Teachers), enabling you to become an inspiring, competent and professionally aware teacher in Secondary Education.

You will create an electronic portfolio of evidence, known as the Professional Learning Passport (PLP), referencing your progression and ability against each of the Professional Teaching and Leadership Standards. Successful evidence of all Standards being met, together with completion of Level 7 assessments, will lead to a recommendation being made to the Education Workforce Council (EWC) that you be awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

In line with Government requirements, the programme is developed and delivered through a collaborative school-university body; the Swansea University Schools’ Partnership (SUSP). This Partnership shares roles in the development, review and delivery of our programme, covering both its university and school placement elements. School and university staff will work together to support you, as a student teacher, to progress toward successful completion of the course, and achieving QTS.

Well-qualified Welsh teachers are in high demand across the UK. In recognition of this, the SUSP has developed this innovative Secondary Welsh PGCE programme that is designed to provide you with confidence, in both your subject knowledge, and in your understanding of how to teach it. The subject-specific element of the programme comes from a ‘Research Informed Reflective Practice’ module that is designed around your subject of choice.

The programme is underpinned by regional, national and international research. You will learn how to make teaching Welsh meaningful, interesting and fun, and also how to analyse your own and your pupils’ development.

Why Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Swansea?

The Swansea University Schools’ Partnership (SUSP) will provide you with high-quality, practitioner and research-led Initial Teacher Education (ITE), to deliver its vision of developing individuals like you into well-informed, reflective practitioners, who can contribute significantly to the quality of Welsh education.

The Secondary PGCE is structured to provide you with the necessary opportunities to address all of the Professional Standards for Teaching and Leadership, through rich learning experiences that are centred around developing your professional proficiency.

This rigorous programme will challenge you academically and professionally. The programme aims to develop your critical understanding of the nature of Welsh, and its position in the school curriculum. You will be encouraged to research and test your own approaches to the teaching of Welsh, to find the techniques that work best, both for you and for the pupils you teach.

You will also have the opportunity to transfer 60 Level 7 credits achieved in the programme as Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL), that can count towards achieving the National Master’s in Education, which is delivered jointly by Universities across Wales.

All aspects of the course have been developed collaboratively by the SUSP and will be delivered, quality assured and reviewed in partnership, to consolidate this collaboration throughout the year.