PGCE in UK Queries

flash87

Hi Guys,

I am planning on applying for PGCE courses in the UK starting in 2012 and have a few questions regarding entry requirements etc.
Firstly, I have not done a mainstream Science subject (I did Agricultural Science) for my Leaving Cert. I have already emailed one university (Kingston University) who have indicated that they will be willing to accept this subject.
However, I have a friend who was told something similar by a different college a few years back only to be rejected eventually due to the lack of a mainstream Science subject. So my question is does anyone else have this problem or has encountered this issue in the past? Which colleges are willing to accept Ag.Science?

Secondly, I see from browsing on the GTTR website that a lot of the colleges have a requirement that you must have a few weeks experience of teaching in a UK school prior to APPLYING for these courses. Is there any way of getting around this or getting Irish work experience to count? Or failing this, how does one go about getting this experience? Would it be best just to ring schools up directly or is there a formal body to go through?

Also, a more general question regarding college choices. Which ones are generally more popular/best? I am a bit wary of the fact that it will be extremely hard to obtain a place i certain colleges due to significant numbers of applicants.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Hatchet89

I'm in a similar position myself Flash!

I've been planning on doing this now for a while but I don't have any leaving cert science. As far as I know the 3 main subjects they look for in the UK are maths, English and science. Instead I'm intend on applying to the Scottish universities as they most don't place as much importance on leaving cert science as the Welsh and English universities do.

Also my grades from college would not be the greatest so I have little chance with universities who expect a minimum 2.1 degree.

As regards the teaching experience I don't think they actually expect you to teach. The focus is on observation (sitting at the back of the class and watching the teacher in action). It's supposed to give you an insight into the workload a teacher is expected to carry out. I plan on contacting my local national school for this.

Hope some of this helps!

pow wow

Friends of mine who have just completed/started PGCEs went to England for a couple of weeks to gain practical experience before starting their courses as it was a requirement in addition to the experience they had gained here. They chose a city (usually the one where the uni was where they were planning to do the PGCE), chose a time period, then emailed a few schools explaining they were coming over to do the observation/assisting and scheduled a week with each of two schools who replied (so a fortnight in total). Then they just booked a hotel and flights and went and did it! It can work out expensive but it's an investment I guess. It's also a good way to suss out your planned new surroundings if you've your heart set on a particular university.

notwise

Hi guys,

Currently doing PGCE in London, didn't have science subject, but some colleges offer an opportunity to do an equivalency test in science or maths if you haven't got grades. So basically you do a search on the GTTR page and they will tell you the unis you can apply.
You then proceed normally with your application, when asked for your grade in science, you tick "apply for equivalency test" application proceeds as normal, you get called for interview and if successful you are given a date (May in my case) and you sit the test.
UEL is a good uni to apply for there are currently about 150 irish trainees.

As regards experience an irish school is fine for UEL anyway, not sure about others but my friend is inSt. marys and she also did hers at home. I did mine at home in Galway.

Start you applications soon, get them in as soon as poss, you should get an interview at some stage between Jan and April. You'll be told to do some research on current news on Uk education, just google for recent news.. Google common questions for UEL interviews, i found a list online and they all came up. You'll also be asked to have alesson plan ready, I built it up a lot and it was actually fine.
Good Luck!!

Edit: Do your school exp before you apply though! Closing date should be around Dec 1st so do it before then...

flash87

Hi Guys,

Thanks a lot for all your replies. They have been very helpful. I was reluctant to apply to London as I thought that it would be much tougher to get into that colleges in other cities.

Still not sure if my Ag,Science is sufficient, have emailed some colleges but none have replied which is poor form.

Regards,

Brian.

cudsy1

@notwise or any other UEL PGCE applicants - how long after you submitted your application before you were called for the interview?


im applying now and im trying to figure out whether i can jet off to far away lands between now and christmas! im thinkin its roughly 2 months minimum?

i read this on an english forum:


I've applied to UEL for the primary PGCE (sent 10th October) and wasn't sure when I'd hear so I decided to get in touch and ask.I contacted primary admissions and they said they won't start interviewing until December. Most of their interviews apparently take place in January however if you applied very early you may be interviewed in December. They give 5-10 days notice for an interview

roisinmcg1

I am also looking into applying for primary school teaching in the UK. on gttr it says you can only apply to for two primary school teaching courses, does anyone know if you can apply to more colleges without going through gttr? there's so many colleges and courses I wouldn't even know where to begin on picking only 2

notwise

Yep all uni's manage their applications through GTTR. I have a feeling they let you put third and fourth choice as well?? Anyway it can be really annoying, for example a friend of mine put Edinburgh first, it's one of the harder places to get into as its in Scotland where you don't have the high fees and you also don't have to have science at LC level. Her second choice was Glasgow. By the time her application was seen and rejected by Edinburgh, Glasgow was also full and she ended up missing out on that year. Unless you are really confident and have a course related to children or teaching behind you, pick a uni that takes in a lot of applicants each year to avoid disappointment. I can't help you so much with this as I only went to one uni, but I do know the Scottish ones are tough as they can only take in a certain amount of applicants each year and the competition is tough. London Southbank and University of east London seem to take in a lot. St. Mary's does have limited places too as far as I know

Jimmy Iovine

notwise wrote: »

Yep all uni's manage their applications through GTTR. I have a feeling they let you put third and fourth choice as well?? Anyway it can be really annoying, for example a friend of mine put Edinburgh first, it's one of the harder places to get into as its in Scotland where you don't have the high fees and you also don't have to have science at LC level. Her second choice was Glasgow. By the time her application was seen and rejected by Edinburgh, Glasgow was also full and she ended up missing out on that year. Unless you are really confident and have a course related to children or teaching behind you, pick a uni that takes in a lot of applicants each year to avoid disappointment. I can't help you so much with this as I only went to one uni, but I do know the Scottish ones are tough as they can only take in a certain amount of applicants each year and the competition is tough. London Southbank and University of east London seem to take in a lot. St. Mary's does have limited places too as far as I know

Yea I made almost the exact same mistake.

I told my friend about Bangor in Wales. He applied and got it. I didn't and was raging. Applied the next year and now I'm preparing to start teaching next week.

Bangor is a great college. I'd definitely recommend it.

EDIT: I forgot to say that you're allowed two choices for primary. You have 4 for secondary.

If your two choices for primary are unsuccessful then you get another 2 choices.

That may have changed from last year but I'm almost certain that it hasn't.

cudsy1

cool thanks notwise

about the skills tests. ie:

All trainee teachers are required to pass skills tests in numeracy and literacy before they can be recommended for the award of qualified teacher status (QTS). Applicants to ITT courses which start after 1 July 2013 will be required to pass the skills tests before starting their course.

http://education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/professional/b00212154/introduction

when and where did PGCE applicants take their tests?

Ally12

If you start before this date I am sure that you can still do them during the course. You book them yourself once you register. We were able to do them at any stage throughout the course. Once you get started in Uni they will give you all the info about them. There was a test centre in my local town. When I did mine, there was not any limit on the number of times you resat them but I am not sure if that still applies. There were 3 online teats-numeracy, literacy and ICT when I done mine. You find out straight away if you pass or fail. There are practice tests online and I def recommend doing these. Hope this helps

lillegs

Im trying to a apply for a postgraduate course in primary school teaching for next year. can anyone help me and tell me were I should apply to.

Ally12

Where in the UK are you looking to go?