The PGCE Secondary course is a stimulating and demanding 36-week training programme that aims to prepare you to become an accomplished teacher.
This programme refreshes and extends your subject knowledge and provides you with the opportunity to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and make a difference to young people's lives and ambitions.
The course is divided into university and school/college-based sections. The 12-week university-based section is taught by highly respected staff with extensive experience of secondary school provision. Our tutors will introduce you to various aspects of teaching, including lesson planning, resource preparation and selection, teaching approaches for examination courses, class management and control, and assessment of attainment. There will also be opportunities to consider pedagogical approaches to literacy and numeracy, as well as enhancing your own skills. The digital competence Framework (DCF) is also addressed and students are encouraged to use technology to support learning and teaching where appropriate.
You will then spend the other 24 weeks gaining Professional Teaching Experience (PTE) on two placements at our established partner schools/colleges between Pembrokeshire and Monmouthshire. On both of these placements, an experienced teacher will act as a mentor to you and will keep in close contact with your university tutors to ensure the smooth development of your teaching competences. Placements will be available in either English or Welsh-medium secondary schools. Students can also follow a Welsh medium pathway and can choose to submit assignments in Welsh.
The course will involve three written assignments, while the PTE will be assessed through teaching observations by both experienced placement mentors and university tutors against the QTS. The PGCE Secondary programme will be delivered in a purpose-built, state of the art building in SA1, Swansea. This move very much ties into our vision of transforming education and transforming lives.
