[fireworks]

Hi guys and girls,

I am in 3rd year doing LLB Law at the University of Liverpool and was wondering whether it is possible to do a PGCE in English for secondary schools after my degree with my law qualification or if an english degree is required?

I have an A at A-Level English Literature.

Many thanks,

[Kidders]

Question i think i would ask if i was a PGCE admissions tutor is why? Why would you want to? I think the fact you have done Law wouldn't necessarily be a problem, just why you didn't do english.
Have you considered doing Teach First? This way you teach for 2 years and during that time meet loads of connections and have access to resources to put you in line for a furture career in another field (law perhaps)O

[TheMeister]

Think of all the children that will be throwing things at you! Don't do it!

[princessnavi22]

You need to get AS MUCH experience as possible between now and when you apply because they're pretty strict on this!! They won't let you on if you have hardly any experience.. you'll need at least 10 days work exp in a secondary school.. as well as some other experience which shows you can/enjoy working with kids

I'm sure the law won't be a problem, I did a law degree and I'm now doing my Primary PGCE.. but some uni's want your degree to be AT LEAST 40-50% in the subject you want to teach.. but I'm sure if you explain and your english is good enough they will take you on.

What I did was ring around the uni's before I applied and explained my situation and asked them my chance of getting on the course.. hope this helps and good lucl!! xxx

[fireworks]

Thanks so far guys! It's just my solicitor dreams seem to be crashing down because of the costs of £10000 to do the LPC to qualify, and training contracts which pay for all this from firms being like gold-dust (1000 applied for a well-known firm in the North West, and 12 got in!!). I simply cannot afford that huge cost unless I worked for a couple of years but as I live in Northern Ireland it would mean moving back to England again and spending thousands living there.

I would quite like to be a teacher and English has always been my strongest subject and academic talent. It has always been up there as a considered career for me. I could do 3 weeks of experience between now and starting the course with www.liverpoolsas.ac.uk so that should not be a problem. I just am very unsure at the moment

Another consideration is, would my PGCE in English for secondary schools get me a job in Northern Ireland if I wanted one? Would they frown upon my law degree?

Oh...and I have coached kids swimming for 2 years, been a mentor for young kids in my school, and taught kids Ju-Jitsu as a coach also...

[princessnavi22]

Originally Posted by fireworks

Thanks so far guys! It's just my solicitor dreams seem to be crashing down because of the costs of £10000 to do the LPC to qualify, and training contracts which pay for all this from firms being like gold-dust (1000 applied for a well-known firm in the North West, and 12 got in!!). I simply cannot afford that huge cost unless I worked for a couple of years but as I live in Northern Ireland it would mean moving back to England again and spending thousands living there.

I would quite like to be a teacher and English has always been my strongest subject and academic talent. It has always been up there as a considered career for me. I could do 3 weeks of experience between now and starting the course with www.liverpoolsas.ac.uk so that should not be a problem. I just am very unsure at the moment

Another consideration is, would my PGCE in English for secondary schools get me a job in Northern Ireland if I wanted one? Would they frown upon my law degree?

Oh...and I have coached kids swimming for 2 years, been a mentor for young kids in my school, and taught kids Ju-Jitsu as a coach also...

I'm sure teaching in Ireland would be fine.. but please don't be fooled into thinking that teaching is the easy option.. because finding a job can be really really difficult, just like in law.. because after your teaching year, you'll need to find a school to take you on as an NQT to continue with your training.

[Kidders]

Why not teach Law?

i'm not sure how you would get onto teaching Law as a secondary subject... but might make more sense?

[fireworks]

Oh don't worry I am under no illusion as to the difficulties of getting a job as a teacher as well - it is difficult in every industry. I am merely of the view that it is more practical and affordable for someone in my position.

The Liverpool SAS (www.liverpoolsas.ac.uk) do the placements which are paid between June and July this year with a couple of compulsory days of training beforehand, but I have a uni housemate who has done that before and he says it was fine.

If I were to apply for the 2010 start of the PGCE at liverpool hope, would the fact that I had not completed that experience yet exclude me from a chance of entry? I think my CV is fairly good as far as communication and working with children goes, but obviously I would not be doing any teaching experience until this year. I might have to have a confirmed place on it for it at least to mean anything...

Sorry for the lengthy reply - and I in no way want to make it look like teaching is me taking the easy option. My father is a teacher, so I know the realities of the area; it is just with a student loan, a bursary if I do it in Liverpool, etc. it makes much more sense than upwards of £25000 from LPC fees, living in England costs, etc for me as a Northern Irish student with no law training contract.

many thanks for your replies - any other help is much appreciated...

[k1tsun3]

Originally Posted by fireworks

Oh don't worry I am under no illusion as to the difficulties of getting a job as a teacher as well - it is difficult in every industry. I am merely of the view that it is more practical and affordable for someone in my position.

The Liverpool SAS (www.liverpoolsas.ac.uk) do the placements which are paid between June and July this year with a couple of compulsory days of training beforehand, but I have a uni housemate who has done that before and he says it was fine.

If I were to apply for the 2010 start of the PGCE at liverpool hope, would the fact that I had not completed that experience yet exclude me from a chance of entry? I think my CV is fairly good as far as communication and working with children goes, but obviously I would not be doing any teaching experience until this year. I might have to have a confirmed place on it for it at least to mean anything...

Sorry for the lengthy reply - and I in no way want to make it look like teaching is me taking the easy option. My father is a teacher, so I know the realities of the area; it is just with a student loan, a bursary if I do it in Liverpool, etc. it makes much more sense than upwards of £25000 from LPC fees, living in England costs, etc for me as a Northern Irish student with no law training contract.

many thanks for your replies - any other help is much appreciated...

Whilst there are some people with lots of teaching experience, if you can find a school to do some observations at before completing your application, that will be good. If you have other experiences working with school age children, that will help to enhance your application.

A big thing is that the unis are usually looking for applicant whose degree contains 40-50% of the subject they are looking to teach, though it could be overlooked depending on the uni. This is more common with the maths and science fields, but it could be possible for English.

If you're seriously thinking about, I would contact the uni you're interested in and talk to someone about your current qualifications and experience to see if they would consider you. I would also start writing the local schools to see if you can shadow a teacher there (you'll need a current CRB).

Hope this helps.

[princessnavi22]

At my uni (Institute of Education) they wouldn't even interview you until you'd got the experience.. you can apply but they won't give you an interview!

Hope that helps.. I'd write to a school and see if you could do like 1 or 2 days a week and try and get your experience that way! Ringing is the way forward.. they can always ignore a letter, but ringing them they pretty much have to do something about it

[fireworks]

Thanks very much for your help guys - I'll give Liverpool Hope a ring on Monday. I have the number for their PGCE admissions folks...

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by fireworks

Thanks very much for your help guys - I'll give Liverpool Hope a ring on Monday. I have the number for their PGCE admissions folks...

I've spoken to Liverpool Hope and they said I was welcome to apply but ideally get a couple of days experience/observation beforehand if you can...
I emailed a large number of schools in the Liverpool/Wirral area and quite a lot got back to me and I have arranged to visit a school in Toxteth every week until June now, in an observatory capacity.

Try ringing/emailing some local schools - it'll make your application stronger