Primary teachng qualifications in UK

shanildo

Hey guys,

This has probably been addressed a few times but I just joined to ask this question. I have always found this site to be very helpful as a lurker. I'l keep my questins to the point.


What are y options to primary school teaching through The UK? Is it true the course lasts 9 months? followed by a year working?

I have an average leaving cert (passed everything) and a 2.1 Marketing degree.

Is it to late to be applying now for courses starting in September? What grants are availible should I do this? Is it just locan ccouncil/VEC?

When qualified in The UK are you eligible to teach in Northern Ireland straight away? What do I need to do to teach in Ireland?

Also, I noticed a lot of primary courses in UK carry a European language too. Do Uk kids learn French / Spanish in primary school?

Sorry for bombarding you with questions. All help is greatly appreciated.

hot chick

What are y options to primary school teaching through The UK?
- See gttr.ac.uk for details. Check to see what courses still have vacancies, and ring them directly to see if they will consider your qualifications before applying.

Is it true the course lasts 9 months? Yes, it's Sept to end of June full time with some courses offering a 2 year part time option.

followed by a year working?
- No, you can do your dip year here or in uk, but if you do it in uk you will have to do the Irish part of the dip here again, and the scg exam.

I have an average leaving cert (passed everything) and a 2.1 Marketing degree.
- your LC grades are important. you need certain grades in English, Maths and Science, a C in ordinary or D in honours I think... your degree has to be relevant to curriculum, so check with university.

Is it to late to be applying now for courses starting in September?
- for the most popular unis, yes! closing date is dec 1st, but some courses aren't full yet and you may still get a place.

What grants are availible should I do this? Is it just loan council/VEC?
you won't get a grant for a postgrad course outside the island of Ireland, however the English teaching council give a bursary (about 4000 i think in monthly installments).

When qualified in The UK are you eligible to teach in Northern Ireland straight away?
- Yes, but jobs in NI are scarce and they have loads of their own qualified teachers.

What do I need to do to teach in Ireland?
- you can teach straight away, but you need to sit the scg exam in irish to get full recognition, and then do your dip year to be probated.

Also, I noticed a lot of primary courses in UK carry a European language too. Do Uk kids learn French / Spanish in primary school?
- yes, but to nowhere near the same level that we learn Irish. A LC foreign language is more than enough to cover it.

Hope this has helped!

shanildo

very helpful hot chick.

"- No, you can do your dip year here or in uk, but if you do it in uk you will have to do the Irish part of the dip here again, and the scg exam."

Where could I do the Irish part of this? Are there courses that cover this?

hot chick

You do your dip when you're working. so the inspector will come in a couple of times to monitor your lessons. If you've already done a years teaching in the UK after qualifying and been "dipped" over there, (i.e. gotten your NQT year in the bag) then you'll only need your Irish lessons inspected as you don't do them in UK.

Scg is something else entirely, and is what foreign trained teachers need to do to be qualified to teach Irish. It involves a couple of exams, aural, oral, time in Gaeltacht. It's meant to be the equivalent of LC Hons Irish. Think you've 5 years to get it all done. And as far as I know you need to do the Scg before you can consider getting your dip done.