Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Religious Education) PGCE

Overview

The PGCE Religious Education at King’s is set in the heart of London and trainees benefit from access to a wide variety of places of worship and museums, including the British Museum, the British Library and the National Gallery. King’s works in close partnership with schools across London in designing, delivering and assessing the course. You will have the opportunity to work with tutors who are actively engaged in research, and you will be encouraged yourself to engage critically with educational pedagogy, policy and practice.

Course detail

There are two strands to the PGCE course: one focusing on the subject specific work, the other encompassing the generic issues facing all of us in education today. The PGCE Religious Education is a full-time course that consists of four required modules and two blocks of teaching experience based in secondary schools within London and Greater London. You will complete the course within ten months, studying September to June. You must take modules totalling 120 credits to meet the requirements of the qualification. You’ll engage in education, pedagogy and professional studies sessions and curriculum workshops. These will take place in both university and school settings and will develop your expertise in general educational and professional issues, as well as subject pedagogy. You’ll gain the skills and understanding to take up positions in schools as a teacher of your subject with the potential to contribute fully to the life of the school. The course carries the Accreditation of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). School Direct Route: The School Direct teacher training route is composed of a partnership between King’s College London and a lead school. Students apply to the lead school for admission to the programme. The academic components of the course are delivered by King’s College London whilst the secondary school teaching experience is organised by the lead school.

Teaching and assessment

Lectures and seminars are primarily taught at the King’s College London Waterloo Campus. Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught. Students undertake teaching placements in secondary schools selected by their lead school. Whilst every effort is made to place PGCE trainees in local schools, due to the changing nature of initial teacher education and limited availability of placements in certain subject areas, trainees should be prepared to travel to their placement schools throughout the Greater London area and beyond.

Career prospects

The majority of trainees go into teaching or other areas of education; many become heads of departments or members of senior management teams; some take up careers in educational administration in the advisory or inspection services.