Passionate about helping children to be the very best they can be from the very start of their academic life? Learn to spark their wisdom and trigger their imagination, inspiring them for life by becoming a primary school teacher.
We’ve designed our highly-rated PGCE General Primary with QTS to support your journey all the way from student through to achieving status as a newly-qualified teacher.
You’ll learn through theory and plenty of first-hand experience how to work within the National Curriculum framework and confidently devise and deliver interesting lessons to engage young minds across a broad spectrum of subjects in primary school.
And, because our course has QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) built-in, you can apply for a position as a primary school teacher the minute you graduate.
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Your Career with a PGCE Teaching Qualification
This course can lead to a fulfilling career as a primary teacher, with QTS built-in to enable you to go straight into work. Nine out of 10 of our graduates go into a professional teaching career or further education within six months of graduating.
As this is a PGCE, it also includes some work at the masters level, leading to 60 credits that can count towards an MA in Education.
Student Review
“I don’t think there’s any other career that matches teaching. Being surrounded by youth keeps you young and energised and no two days are ever the same. UoC was absolutely the right choice. Tutors are brilliant. From the first day, they have tried to make things as easy as possible for me, going above and beyond their roles. It’s that connection with the tutors that will make you an effective teacher.”
Steafan Deery, PGCE General Primary with QTS (5-11 years) - Physical Education Specialism
“I really enjoyed the course. It was very manageable with the three-block placements, putting into practise everything we’d learnt, and provided time to go to classes in between. Class sizes were perfect and friendly. Our group was very welcoming to one another. Each placement brought challenges, but I enjoyed every second of all three. My first was so good, it’s where I applied for a job and thankfully now find myself working.”
Emily Thompson, PGCE General Primary with QTS (5-11 years)
Why Choose the University of Cumbria
You will work within schools and with pupils continually throughout your studies – on school-embedded learning and placements, not just on block releases.
We do this so that you can immediately put the theory you learn in lectures and seminars into practice, graduating ready to step into a classroom to teach and inspire.
If you want a full university experience, you can choose to study for your PGCE at one of our campuses – Lancaster, Carlisle or London. But, if you’d rather complete your studies closer to home, you can opt for School Direct.
Whichever you choose, you will get more than 50% of your teacher training in a school and experience at least two contrasting school placements, so that you not only get essential experience but can try a particular type of educational setting before committing yourself long-term.
You could even start teaching by week three of the course.
Although, you won’t be dropped in at the deep end. You will start by working with individual groups of pupils in school and gradually build up to the teaching of whole classes to reach the required standard of professional practice.
£1,000 cash payment and accommodation scholarship for UCLAN, Lancaster University, University of Salford and Queen Mary University of London graduates wanting to enrol on one of our campus-based teacher training programmes. More information here.
Benefit from the Department for Education's primary teaching bursaries and scholarships.
Our excellent partnerships with more than 2,000 schools in Lancashire, Cumbria London, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man enhance your placement and job prospects.
A high number of our students get offered jobs from teaching placements.
Our course falls in line with the Department for Education (DfE) guidelines, so you can expect to do a minimum of 120 days in schools required for QTS status.
Academic tutors have worked as teachers and within education and know what it is like to be a professional teacher, so their first-hand experience will support your learning.
Highly rated by OFSTED as a provider of successful teachers.
Tutors are active researchers in education, so your learning will be up-to-date and fresh with the latest thinking, technologies and practices.
A personal tutor will support you closely throughout your studies and a mentor will guide you during your professional placement.
Easy access to our Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment providing easy online access to course material, as well as our library, well stocked with education books, journals and materials you need for research.
Free use of teaching resources for use on placements to enhance the lessons you teach.
Over the past 100 years, with our founding institutions, St Martin’s College in Lancaster and Charlotte Mason College in Ambleside, we have gained a great track record for inspiring teachers and helping them step into employment.
So, if you would love to share your joy of learning with children, sparking and stimulating their minds, our course is the stepping stone to becoming a qualified teacher.
Course summary
Over half of the 39-week course is spent with children, with 124 days on school-based learning (including assessed placements) in at least two different schools or settings, giving you the real-life experience you need to embark on your career as a primary teacher.
