PGCertHE
The Sussex Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
The Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCertHE) is a professional qualification for staff at the University of Sussex. The course is formally located within the School of Education and Social Work but is managed and delivered by the Teaching and Learning Development Unit .
The route to the qualification is flexible, work-based and aimed at helping those new to teaching or supporting learning in Higher Education to develop the expertise and understanding necessary to become effective in their practice. New academic staff (with any teaching responsibility) who do not have the equivalent of three or more years’ full-time Higher Education teaching experience are required to take the course. In addition, the PGCertHE has been designed to be accessible to a broader range of colleagues, e.g. more experienced staff and those in academic-related and learning support positions who would like to work towards a qualification in learning and teaching in higher education: it aims to take full account of participants’ prior knowledge, experience and the different departmental contexts in which they teach or support learning.
Staff with a minimum of three years full-time equivalent of teaching in higher education who want recognition, but not necessarily a formal qualification, might prefer the Sussex Pathway to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) which is a professional recognition scheme offering a flexible individual route to recognition of experience accumulated through teaching and supporting learning at HE level in a range of areas.
The PGCertHE is a part-time 60 credit M level qualification requiring, notionally, 600 hours of study, typically over two years of registration. Because the PGCertHE is designed to integrate into your everyday professional practice, a large part of the programme is work-based.
The key feature of the qualification is that you draw up your own individual plan of study, in discussion with a member of the course team. The discussion takes into account your:
- Amount and level of previous experience
- Current teaching or learning support duties
- Discipline/subject area
- Personal aims and goals
- Any particular learning or support needs
Considering these factors in conjunction with the course learning outcomes, you will agree a plan with your individual advisor, which your departmental mentor or other appropriate member of department will be asked to endorse.
The plan will identify relevant workshops, seminars and training sessions to attend from a ‘menu’ of Teaching and Learning Development (TLD) Events organised by TLDU and open to all staff, offered throughout the academic year. The chosen activities may further be augmented, as appropriate, by professional development opportunities available both inside the University (for example events organised by Schools), and outside the University (for example by HEA or by your own professional body). The programme is also supported by a Study Direct site.
Registration form [DOC 36.50KB]
To find out more or discuss your participation, please contact Jan Pryse, telephone 01273 872558 (internal 2558), email J.E.Pryse@sussex.ac.uk or come along to one of the briefing meetings.
Further details