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PGCE

Post Compulsory Education and Training (PcET)

The Postgraduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education and Training (PGCE PcET) qualifies you to teach in the further, adult and vocational education sector.

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Key Course Details

  • UCAS Code

    2V9X

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Newport

  • Campus Code

    C

Fees

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Newport

  • Campus Code

    C

Fees

The course aims to develop student teachers who are familiar with/confident about social sciences discourse, who may later be interested in pursuing an MA in Education, and whose writing is already at level 7 (assessed during application). The University of South Wales at Newport has led the field in vocational teacher education in Wales for many years.

Designed For

Students with a degree in the specialist subject that you plan to teach which may include experience of this subject in industry. You should also enjoy working with and learning from others and can work collaboratively and professionally.

Career Paths

  • Teacher 
  • Learning Mentor 
  • Trainer 
  • Tutor 
  • Curriculum Development 

Skills taught

  • Developing pedagogy
  • Literacies for professional practice 
  • Values-informed  
  • Research-informed  
  • Equity in teaching and learning 

Students and Lecturers sitting in a classroom at USW campus in Newport

Course Highlights

Become a qualified teacher in a year

Successfully completing the full-time course will mean that you can qualify to teach in the sector in a year.

Flexible study options

If full-time study does not fit with other commitments, you can qualify to teach in two years. This route supports those who may be in part-time employment, or already working in a PcET environment.

Supportive teaching team

The course team have a vast range of experience from across PcET and work closely together to support your development of values, knowledge, and skills.

Varied career prospects

Students completing this course have gained full and part time employment across the sector and many of our past graduates actively support the course as mentors for our new student teachers.

Module Overview

This course prepares you for a career as a teacher in the post-compulsory education and training sector, also known as further, adult, and vocational education. This takes place in the university with the course team, on PcET placement with a mentor and colleagues, and through completion of directed and independent study to develop values, knowledge, and skills. For full-time students, this is a one-year course where all six modules are studied. For part-time students, this is a two-year course where three modules are studied each year.

Planning for Learning
This module introduces planning principles for short-term and long-term planning through completion of a peer-teach and scheme of learning. It is the foundation module that underpins the starting points for the course. 

Assessing for Learning
This module develops assessment principles and how these are used to create assessment tools and learner profiles to design activities that meet the needs of learners with sustained critical engagement to justify assessment decisions.  

Developing Professional Practice
This module includes planning, resourcing, and teaching a minimum of 50 hours including 3 successful observations of your teaching. During this time, you will also observe qualified teachers.

Practice-based Research
This module develops research-informed practice in response to a challenge experienced in your teaching at placement. You will develop research skills such as interviewing and other data collection to inform pedagogical actions as part of an action research cycle linked to wider social policy and context.

Literacies for Learning
This module explores ideas about communication and literacy e.g., digital, visual, graphic, written, and numerical in everyday life and teaching. The module is assessed via a noticeboard and interactive exhibition.

Extending Professional Practice
This module extends from Developing Professional Practice, and includes further planning, resourcing, and teaching of a further minimum of 50 hours including another 3 successful observations of your teaching.  

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Typical qualification requirements:

You would need to hold a level 6 qualification in their teaching subject area, along with one or more year’s vocational experience in their teaching subject (where relevant). Once with us, you will develop skills, confidence and understanding of learning, teaching and assessment in your subject and general professional practice for the sector.

Additional requirements

Suitable applicants will be invited to attend an applicant day at the Newport Campus, which is an important part of getting to know each other and getting to know the course. Part of the day will include a short activity followed by an interview with a member of the course team. You will be asked to give a 5-minute presentation about how your experiences and qualifications support becoming a teacher in PcET, followed by an opportunity to ask any questions.

An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on the Child Workforce and Child Barring List and subscription to the DBS Update Service is required. (Overseas equivalent required for non-uk applicants).

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

Additional Costs

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.

 Students will be expected to pay for a DBS or certificate of good behaviour from their home country. The DBS fee includes £49.50 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee

Cost: £64.74

Subscription required for each year of the course for a yearly fee of £16. Please note the service has to be joined within 30 days of receipt of your enhanced DBS certificate

Cost: £16

Travel to and from placement and any additional costs levied by placements.

Cost is dependent on placement location and is an additional cost to be met by students.

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

Teaching practice takes place outside these university times, and student teachers negotiate their own teaching timetables with the help of the placement co-ordinator and placement mentors or employers.

There are no exams, assessment is 100% coursework that is practice-based including practical, group and interactive activities, as well as written coursework.

Full time delivery pattern

Sept-Oct - Tuesday 9.30-2.30, Wednesday 9.30-3.45, and Friday 9.30-2.30 (full attendance is expected)
Nov-June - Tuesday 9.30-2.30, Wednesday 9.30-3.45 (full attendance is expected)

(During block placement periods in February and April you will be expected to be at placement throughout the week).

Part time delivery pattern (year 1 and 2)

Sept-June – Thursday 1.15-6.45

Teaching staff

  • Jodie Rees
  • Dr Alison Straker
  • Dr Carol Wood
  • Janet Best
  • Jodene Jenkinson
  • Sophie Meace-Williams
  • Giovanna Comerio
  • Stephanie Hawkes

Placements

Each student teacher will need a trained placement mentor (qualified teacher) to support and assess the student for the duration of the placement. A number of training events for both existing and new mentors will take place to support placement providers. 

We will also allocate a university tutor to support both the student and placement mentor. 

Throughout the duration of the course, whilst at placement student teachers are required (as a minimum) to undertake 100 hours of teaching, 30 hours observation and 10 hours of departmental duties e.g., planning meetings, assessment meetings, team meetings.

Facilities

The on-campus sessions are held at Newport City Campus in general purpose classrooms. There are flexible learning spaces with computer suites to support directed and independent study as well as group work and peer working. There are library facilities at this campus with a vast range of learning resources available online. Students can access any of the libraries across all USW campuses to support their studies. 

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

After completing this qualification, teachers may progress to study at postgraduate level.

  • MA Education (Leadership and Management) 
  • MA Education (Inn ovation, Learning and Teaching 
  • MA SEN/ALN (Additional Learning Needs) 
  • MA SEN/ALN (Autism) 
  • MA CAMH (Child and Adolescent Mental Health) 

Or in their teaching subject area of expertise

Possible career paths

A career as a PcET practitioner within the Post Compulsory Education and Training sector e.g. Further Education (FE) Colleges, Training Providers, Adult and Community Learning and Work Based Learning. Students completing this course have gained full and part time employment across the sector and many of our past graduates actively support the course as mentors for our new student teachers.

Careers Support

The course team often support students in looking for employment and preparing for interview as part of the professional practice modules and tutorial sessions.

Studying at USW

Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.

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Postgraduate fees and funding
University of South Wales Newport Campus.
Newport Campus
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How to apply

There is an online application process for this course. Please choose the application form for your preferred start date and mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time).

International admissions

Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Next Steps

How to Apply
Book an Open Evening
Chat to Us