• Course content
• Entry requirement
• Additional information

Course content

The course is 36 weeks long of which 24 weeks are spent on placement in a partnership school. There are five phases: Preparation (university and some school-based activities); School Placement 1 (seven week placement in school); Development (university and one week in your second school); School Placement 2 (12 week block placement and some university days); Completion (two further weeks in second school and two weeks in university).

The course will not pretend that teaching mathematics is straight-forward, because it is not! Our sessions will rarely be of the form of a lecture, instead we use activities and discussion as the main way of working.

We will help you become aware of issues relating to planning lessons, assessment, the difference between telling students information and teaching students, standard misconceptions students have about mathematics topics, how different approaches to teaching a topic can change the learning experience for students, how choice of resources and technology can change the sort of mathematics with which students engage. Along the way we will, of course, also introduce you to the National Curriculum and the National Numeracy Strategy and we will also do a lot of mathematics ourselves!

Assessment

All students have to complete six modules, five of which require a written assignment. In addition all students complete two teaching placements and have to pass the TDA Standards for the Award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

Progression

As postgraduate programmes, PGCE courses at this university are assessed at Masters level. On successful completion of the PGCE course you will be awarded 120 credits. For those students who successfully complete their induction year there is an opportunity to transfer credits to the MEd course which is awarded on completion of a 60 credit dissertation. (Transfer is subject to a satisfactory reference from your PGCE tutor and induction tutor).

Many local schools have a high regard for Birmingham mathematics PGCE students and we have an excellent record of students gaining jobs at the end of the course. Many of our ex-PGCE mathematics students are now Heads of Departments in our partnership schools.

Entry requirements

All applicants to the Secondary PGCE course must hold a degree or equivalent qualification in the area they wish to teach. In addition to this you will be required to have a grade C in GCSE mathematics and English, or equivalent. DfES require us to check original certificates; you therefore cannot start a PGCE course unless you already hold these qualifications.

We will expect your degree to not only have a high mathematics content but it will have a range and level of mathematics equivalent to 50% of a mathematics degree. If your degree has less mathematics content than this then please see our two-year conversion PGCE course.

Additional Information  

When to apply

Applications, via the GTTR (see How to Apply link on the left side), can be made from 1st October for the following September start. There is one intake per year.

You can apply throughout the year although often the course becomes full well before summer.