Getting into Teaching

All of our courses lead to the qualification of Qualified Teacher Status.

QTS is an accreditation made to those teachers who meet the professional standards required to be able to teach in maintained schools, non-maintained special schools or pupil referral units in England.

You can opt to take the QTS only route, giving you a qualified teacher status if you wish not to take the academic PGCE element.

Unsure as to what subject you want to teach? Please contact us.

PGCE with QTS

All our courses can be taken with PGCE (Master’s level – level 7) which is validated by the University of Buckingham. The PGCE is an academic qualification and demonstrates that you have critically engaged with the research and knowledge base which underpins professional practice. Trainees who pass the PGCE (level 7) will be awarded 60 credits which can be put towards a full masters qualification in the NQT year and beyond. The PGCE element comprises of 3 assignments over the year where we dovetail the course tasks to match the assignment content where we can.

QTS Only

You can opt for the QTS only route, this training programmes lead to the recommendation of Qualified Teacher Status and does not have the academic PGCE element. All of our courses offer include the QTS element and qualification.

Salaried (School Direct)

We also offer ‘School Direct (Salaried) programmes’ for all our courses. It is usual for this route that you have been teaching and covering lessons for 1 to 2 years and often you will have a school that supports you. The school will pay an agreed salary and also pay for the QTS only training element. You can take the PGCE as well, this would be privately funded buy by yourself. Some salaried courses will require you to pay your training fees. You can discuss this at your interview.

Assessment Only

The route is designed for those already teaching in schools who would be eligible to gain Qualified Teacher Status without undertaking a full initial teacher training programme. This way of achieving QTS is only available to unqualified teachers who have taught in at least two schools, early years and/or further education settings. The assessment period must be successfully completed within three months.

For more information about this route, please see our Assessment Only page.

School Experience

Classroom experience can help you to decide whether teaching is right for you. It will also strengthen your application and prepare you for potential interviews.

DfE offer a Get School Experience service. You should be able to find an opportunity local to you.

You’ll have the opportunity to:

Talk to teachers about day-to-day school life
Observe teaching and pastoral work
Watch a range of lessons and age groups being taught

As part of your placement, a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check may be required, which will be organised by the school.