Subject overview

Programme outline

Those studying for the PGCE learn to teach within schools in East and West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. School-led teacher education is provided by experienced mentors and professional tutors and is supported by University tutors throughout the year. 

Assessment

All teachers are prepared to meet, and are regularly assessed against, a set of national professional standards, achievement of which is recognised by the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). 

In preparation for QTS, teachers prepare a portfolio of evidence of achievement, which charts progress over the academic year and includes evidence of lesson observations, engagement with professional development and self-designed teaching and learning materials. 

As an academic award, the PGCE also provides opportunities to acquire up to 90 Masters-level credits through two written assignments and the presentation of a professional portfolio in a viva at the end of the degree. 

At all stages, assessment is shared between school-based professionals and University tutors. 

Timetable

The degree runs on a full-time basis from September until late June. Winter and spring vacations are fixed by the term dates of partnership schools.

PGCE award levels

All trainee teachers register on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education and are assessed at Masters level. Successful students will obtain a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, while students who do not obtain enough M-level credits are able to exit with a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) 

QTS is awarded to teachers who meet nationally agreed professional standards. The standards are specified to ensure that all teachers have the appropriate professional knowledge and skills. 

Further details are provided by the Department for Education (DfE).

PGCE fees and financial support

The current fee for a PGCE is £9,000. Student loans are available to cover tuition fees in full. Most trainee teachers can borrow up to £9,000. A maintenance loan of up to £5,500 is also available to help with accommodation and other living costs. Trainee teachers may also be eligible for an annual means-tested grant of up to £3,250. 

In addition, home/EU trainee teachers are currently able to draw on a tax-free non-repayable training bursary of up to £20,000. Bursary amounts vary depending on degree classification and subject or phase specialisation. The nature of financial support is reviewed annually by the DfE.  

If you are offered a place on any of our PGCE degrees, you will be sent all the information you need on how to apply for any of the above-mentioned loans, grants or bursaries.

How to apply for the PGCE

You should apply through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry. Please do not apply directly to Sussex. 

You must provide an appropriate written reference on your application form, which should be an academic reference if you are at university or college. If you finished your studies in the last five years, your principal referee should be a tutor or lecturer who can comment on your academic achievements and your personal qualities. 

If you finished your studies more than five years ago, your principal referee should be a responsible person who knows you well enough to write with authority about you, such as an employer. 

No candidate will be offered a place without being interviewed. Interviews serve not only as a selection device, but also as an opportunity for further explanation and questions. Unfortunately, we are unable to reimburse travel and other expenses incurred in attending for an interview.

Trainees with disabilities

We welcome applications from students with disabilities. For further information, contact us:

School of Education and Social Work, 
University of Sussex, Falmer, 
Brighton BN1 9QQ, UK 
T +44 (0)1273 873238 
F +44 (0)1273 678411 
E eswadmissions@sussex.ac.uk 
Department of Education

Working with children

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) provides, through a disclosure service, access to records held nationwide by the police and the DfE. As initial teacher education modules involve working with children, all prospective trainees must pay a fee to be checked by the CRB before starting an initial teacher training programme. 

Mental and physical fitness to teach

All trainees must be screened for mental and physical fitness to teach by the University’s Occupational Health Department. A charge is made for the service.

School Direct

The University works in partnership with over 60 local schools to provide school-led teacher training, known as School Direct. The exact nature of this training route varies depending on school preferences. For instance, some schools offer School Direct (salaried) where trainees are employed as unqualified teachers and benefit from a bespoke training programme, whereas others adopt the same training and assessment as the PGCE. All routes lead to QTS. Visit Department of Education: Initial Teacher Education. 

Withdrawal of offer

The University will make all reasonable efforts to provide the degree as set out here. However, it may be obliged to withdraw an offer of a place if it cannot obtain sufficient placements for the school experience component of the degree, where trainees are placed in a school within a 50-mile radius of the University or of the student’s home. 

Refer to Terms and conditions and further information for more details. This information may be revised as a result of changes to Government regulations and recommendations. 

Course structure

We continue to develop and update our modules for 2014 entry to ensure you have the best student experience.

PGCE elements

Professional Knowledge for Schools

The focus of this module is to encourage the development of key professional attributes. This module develops your understanding of:

• broad educational issues 
• national priorities 
• whole-school policies, and 
• teachers’ duties, legal liabilities and responsibilities. 

This module is delivered in partnership between school-based professionals and University faculty. Topics include personalised learning, special educational needs, interprofessional work, safeguarding, active learning, equal opportunities issues, assessment for learning and behaviour management.

Curriculum Studies

The central focus of this module is subject- or age-specific curriculum knowledge and pedagogy. University tutors and school mentors co-teach this module, extending knowledge and understanding both of the curriculum and how pupils learn, enabling teachers to explore a variety of teaching and learning strategies and to teach differentiated and creative lessons. 

Through school-based research, we encourage teachers to develop their own understanding of their subject’s and pupils’ specific pedagogy.

Professional Practice

On this module, the focus is on the practical application of professional skills. Experience of placements in two schools gives you the opportunity to develop your teaching skills with the close supervision of a subject mentor. This includes: 

• developing your knowledge of the school curriculum in different phases and subjects 
• planning lessons and schemes of work, with clear learning objectives 
• managing the classroom, ICT and other resources 
• organising a range of well-paced activities to suit different learning preferences 
• presenting topics and using effective questioning strategies, and 
• monitoring and assessing pupils’ work.  

Entry requirements

UK entrance requirements

In order to qualify for admission to the PGCE degree, you must be a graduate of an approved institution of Higher Education or validating body from a course that is recognised as being equivalent to at least a second-class undergraduate honours degree. You must also have passed GCSE (or equivalent) in English and Mathematics with at least grade C in each and complete professional skills tests in literacy and numeracy.

All PGCE applications are submitted via the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) and not direct to the University of Sussex. Please apply online via the GTTR website. You must provide an appropriate written reference on your application form, which should be an academic reference if you are at university or college. If you finished your studies in the last five years, your principal referee should be a tutor or lecturer who can comment on your academic achievements and your personal qualities. If you finished your studies more than five years ago, your principal referee should be a responsible person who knows you well enough to write with authority about you, such as an employer.

No candidate will be offered a place without being interviewed. Interviews serve not only as a selection device, but also as an opportunity for further explanation and questions. Unfortunately, we are unable to reimburse travel and other expenses incurred in attending for an interview.

All candidates offered a place must also pass a satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check and a mental and physical fitness check. A charge applies for both these checks.

Overseas entrance requirements

Overseas qualifications

If your country is not listed below, please contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

Country	Overseas qualification
Australia	Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class lower division
Brazil	Bacharel, Licenciado or professional title with a final mark of at least 7
Canada	Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.0/4.0 (grade B)
China	Bachelor degree from a leading university with overall mark of 65%-85% depending on your university
Cyprus	Bachelor degree or Ptychion with a final mark of at least 6.5
France	Licence with mention assez bien or Maîtrise with final mark of at least 12
Germany	Bachelor degree or Magister Artium with a final mark of 2.7 or better
Ghana	Bachelor degree from a public university with second-class lower division
Greece	Ptychion from an AEI with a final mark of at least 6.5
Hong Kong	Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class lower division
India	Bachelor degree from a leading institution with overall mark of at least 60% or equivalent
Iran	Bachelor degree (Licence or Karshenasi) with a final mark of at least 14
Italy	Diploma di Laurea with an overall mark of at least 100
Japan	Bachelor degree from a leading university with a minumum of B or equivalent
Malaysia	Bachelor degree with class 2 division 2
Mexico	Licenciado with a final mark of at least 7
Nigeria	Bachelor degree with second-class lower division or CGPA of at least 2.8/4.0
Pakistan	Four-year bachelor degree, normally with a GPA of at least 3.3
Russia	Magistr or Specialist Diploma with a minimum average mark of at least 4
South Africa	Bachelor (Honours) degree or Bachelor degree in Technology with an overall mark of at least 60%
Saudi Arabia	Bachelor degree with an overall mark of at least 65% or CGPA 3.0/5.0 or equivalent
South Korea	Bachelor degree from a leading university with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent
Spain	Licenciado with a final mark of at least 2/4
Taiwan	Bachelor degree with overall mark of 70%-85% depending on your university
Thailand	Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 2.8/4.0 or equivalent
Turkey	Lisans Diplomasi with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent depending on your university
United Arab Emirates	Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent
USA	Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3-3.5/4.0 depending on your university
Vietnam	Masters degree with CGPA 3.0/4.0 or equivalent

If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas qualifications, contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

Related programmes

• Anthropology of Development and Social Transformation MA
• Childhood and Youth Studies MA
• English Language Teaching MA
• Environment, Development and Policy MA
• Gender and Development MA
• Human Rights MA
• Media Practice for Development and Social Change MA
• Migration Studies MA
• Social Development MA

Fees and funding

Fees

Home UK/EU students: £9,000¹
Overseas students: £13,000²

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

Funding

The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.

Faculty interests

The research interests and areas of supervisory expertise of our faculty are listed below. For more information about the research conducted in Education, including information about the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER), Centre for Inquiry and Research in Cognition, Learning and Teaching (CIRCLETS) and the Centre for International Education (CIE), visit the Department of Education.  

Dr Kwame Akyeampong Global, regional and national analysis of teacher education and impact on learning, curriculum and assessment reforms. 

Dr Sarah Aynsley 14-19 education and training, transition from further to Higher Education, qualitative approaches and practitioner research. 

Dr Janet Boddy Parents and families, parent and child health and well-being, parenting and family support, children in or at the edges of care, social pedagogy, crossnational research. 

Professor Penny Jane Burke Widening access to and participation in Higher Education, critical and feminist pedagogies, gender and identity formations, challenging inequalities in Higher Education, participatory methodologies. 

Dr Andrew Chandler-Grevatt Science education: teaching and learning, progression of key concepts in science. 

Dr Barbara Crossouard Doctoral education, Higher Education; assessment, formative assessment; educational ethnography; gender, identity. 

Professor Mairead Dunne Sociological education studies of quality, equity and identity in the UK and low-income countries, curriculum practices. 

Dr Naureen Durrani Teacher education, curriculum and textbooks, mathematics education, schooling and identity construction and South Asia. 

Dr Louise Gazeley Social and educational (dis) advantage, education policy, exclusion from school, teacher education. 

Professor Valerie Hey Feminist theory, postmodern methodologies, ethnography, identity, affects, social difference, gender. 

Professor Brian Hudson Mathematics education; ICT and learning; didactics, learning and teaching; teacher education policy. 

Professor Keith Lewin Educational planning, economics and finance of education, access and equity in education and development, teacher education, science and technology education policy in developing countries, educational aid and project evaluation. 

Professor Colleen McLaughlin Head of the Department of Education. Action and practitioner research; educational reform; vulnerable children, counselling and care; sexuality education, including HIV/AIDS; school-university partnerships for reform and research. 

Professor Louise Morley Sociology of Higher Education, national and international Higher- Education policy, widening participation, identity. 

Dr Linda Morrice Adult, Higher-Education and lifelong learning. Refugee education and migration studies, learning and identity. Life-history, biographical and longitudinal methodologies. 

Professor Mario Novelli Education and conflict, global governance of education, education and globalisation, foreign aid and education. 

Dr John Parry Education for sustainable development, role of ICT within citizenship, experiential learning, special educational needs. 

Dr John Pryor Educational ethnography, international and intercultural education, identity and equity, pedagogy and formative assessment. 

Dr Ricardo Sabates Education and social outcomes, links between education and health, education and crime, adult education. 

Dr Yusuf Sayed Education assessment and rights, quality, education governance and leadership, education financing, international aid. 

Dr Julia Sutherland The use of collaborative talk to develop secondary pupils’ higher cognitive thinking. 

Dr Simon Thompson Teachers’ professional knowledge, Initial Teacher Education in the UK, history of education. 

Professor Rachel Thomson Childhood and youth studies, young people’s transitions to adulthood, sexuality and sex education. 

Dr Jo Westbrook Learning to read, comprehension, wider reading, teacher education in the UK and developing countries, action research. 

Dr Benjamin Zeitlyn Access to education, dropout, development, migration, transnationalism, childhoods, ethnic minorities, Islam. 

Careers and profiles

Both the PGCE and GTP offer a direct progression route on to the Master of Education (MEd). Successful candidates can transfer up to 90 M-level credits on to the MEd. Most of our graduates go on to work as qualified teachers in either primary or secondary schools, or sixth-form colleges. 

School and contacts