PGCE Art and Design

The Art and Design PGCE is a challenging and forward-looking programme which prepares students to teach across the 11–16 age range, encouraging them to relate art, craft and design education to contemporary art practice. It has a strong reputation for promoting innovation in education theory, practice and policy. This programme aims to inform and inspire, to challenge orthodoxies and encourage a freshness of vision. It provides support and guidance for learning and teaching in art and design, identifying strategies to motivate and engage pupils in making, discussing and evaluating visual and material culture.

Graduates of this programme are currently working across a broad range of areas. Some are working as teachers and heads of art and design departments in schools and colleges, while others have jobs as education officers in galleries and museums. Graduates in this area can also be found working as lecturers on art foundation courses.

Graduates of the Secondary PGCE programme are highly employable and sought after by schools and colleges in London and beyond. Almost all graduates secure their first teaching post by the time they finish the PGCE programme. Graduates of the programme also have great career prospects, with many becoming Head of Department or a Head of Year within 2-5 years, often acting, in their schools, as mentors to new PGCE student teachers. Many of our graduates become senior teachers (such as Assistant Headteachers or Head of a Faculty) in 5-8 years of graduating, and some are now Headteachers. Others have developed their careers as subject specialist teachers and educators, both becoming lead teachers in the classroom and researching, writing and advising other teachers themselves. The Secondary PGCE Programme aims to provide a springboard into a rewarding career as a skilled teacher and future educational leader.