PGCE Secondary with English

Our Secondary English PGCE is run by a team of committed, passionate and experienced staff who offer a diverse range of expertise and a genuine conviction that our approach to teacher education is the best way to develop outstanding teachers. Our staff have extensive school and university teaching experience, and are active in researching in and working with schools to push forward the frontiers of English teaching. We train you to be critical and creative, and to become educational leaders in your own right!

Overview

The PGCE English course has a national reputation for excellence, and its trainees are popular recruits to schools all over the country. It is run by tutors who are enthusiastic about English teaching and who relish the opportunity to work with the next generation of English teachers.

The course is active and participatory, placing considerable emphasis on working collaboratively with others and learning together. We expect you to take a high level of responsibility for your own professional learning and the course includes both taught seminars and workshops and directed or independent study activities which allow your professional learning to be tailored to your needs and interests. In addition, you will have the opportunity to engage with the broader professional field related to English, such as working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, meeting children’s authors, and being involved with national or regional arts-based projects.

The course is informed by research in the Centre for Research in Writing, giving you first-hand access to the latest research on classroom practice in English.

Learning and assessment

By learning on campus for most of the first term you access the tools to rapidly build professional knowledge to underpin your work in school placements.

Our unique approach gives you opportunities to learn and become part of a community of trainees and teachers who are passionate about education, and will support you during your course and beyond. We carry out a detailed skills audit with every trainee so we understand your particular development needs and can personalise elements of training to strengthen the skills you need to excel as a teacher.

During placements Exeter trainees benefit from the focused support of two School-based Tutors: a Principle Tutor who works as an expert partner, and a Mentor who develops and challenges your thinking about teaching in ways that can be used to enhance performance.

You will be supported in developing the full range of teaching skills and effective reflection that you will need in your first teaching post as a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT).

The PGCE is a Masters level programme and once you have achieved QTS, you can continue your studies during your first year of teaching and work towards achieving a Masters in Education.