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Details of your journey to your PGCE Placements

Hi all,

Having earlier noted a member stating that they spend 2 hours a day travelling in a car to/from a PGCE placement school (1 hour each way), and considering the fact that some must sit in a car for a minimum of 2 hours a day, I have been spurred on to enquire about your journeys, be it secondary/primary, anything.

How long did it take to get there?
By what means did you do it. Car? Train? Bus? Walk? Helicopter? .....

just interested to see the lengths and depths that many dedicated students have had to go to across their PGCE Year.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

gingerbreadman85

My first placement was an hour each way by car, the second was a 20min walk, a 1hr train and a 15min walk the other end (assuming the trains ran on time!).

Unis have to parcel out their students all over the place!

Reply 2

dobbs

1st placement = 30 minute drive
2nd placement = 50 minute drive (across the England-Wales border too!)
3rd placement = started as a 30 minute walk but then couldn't be bothered walking as I got to school sweaty so made it into a 10 minute drive ha :biggrin:

Reply 3

Netts

It really does vary for everyone. The first placement took me 45mins to get to (walk, train, bus). The second was 30mins (walk, bus) and the exact same with the third. However, I know people who have had to travel far more. The worst I heard was a guy in my class who had to go from Watford in NW London to Grays in Essex- google them if you don't know the areas. You will see the distance! He didn't even have a car. My friend had to get three long bus journeys to get to her school. Technically we should be within 1 1/2 hours of the university campus.

Reply 4

noodles!

I believe that was me...

Placement 1: bus into town (5/10 minutes) then a bus to school (40 minutes), probably took just over an hour with waiting for buses.

Placement 2: bus into town (5/10 minutes), walk to my lift (10 minutes), drive to school for an hour, picking up someone else on the way, 5 minutes walk from car park to school. On any days where lifts aren't possible due to meetings/interviews etc it's 20 minutes walk, 1 hour on the train, and 10 minutes walk.

But I don't complain (much) because I've had two amazing placements, the second one in particular.

Reply 5

affinity89

First placement: 15-20 minute drive. Thankfully, another student was at my school who lived nearby, so we car-shared. But, on the few attempts I had to do it myself, it was a 10 minute walk, a 20 minute bus, a 30 minute bus and then a 5 minute walk.

Second placement: Either get a lift which takes 5-10 minutes in the car or get the bus [bus takes around 10-15 minutes and then there is a 5 minute walk].
I am very grateful for being so close, especially as we have to be in school for 7am and don't normally leave until 5pm at the earliest. It would just about kill me to have to travel further lol. :redface:

I have been very lucky really.
Some of my friends on the course are driving an hour plus each way and one has to get three buses, taking her over 2 hours. :redface:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

FadeToBlackout

1st placement- 20 minute walk, 1h train, 20m walk.

2nd placement - 20m cycle, 40m drive with placement partner

3rd placement - 20m cycle, 50m drive with placement partner

4th placement - 10m walk (or 15m if I get some tasty bakery items from Co-op on the way...)

Reply 7

jaime1986

1st Placement (one week) - 15 mins Car

2nd Placement (Oct-Jan) - 4 mins Car :smile:

3rd Placement (Feb - June) - 10 mins Car

Reply 8

balloon_parade

1st Placement - 1 hour car journey
2nd Placement- 1 hour car journey
3rd Placement - 5 minute car journey
4th Placement- 15minute car journey

I would definitely recommend getting a car if you are doing the PGCE somewhere with poor public transport, a poor fellow on my course ended up 2 hours away, it was something like 15 minute walk, 40 min train ride, 30 min bus ride then another 15 minute walk and he did it for 4 weeks. Total dedication! Although if he could have driven it would have been 40mins, so it really makes the difference (especially in more rural areas!) Plus with a car you can leave when you want to and don't have to worry about travel connections!

They say anything up to 90 minutes is acceptable but I found 1 hour more than enough, especially if you are in a demanding school, I wasn't getting back until 7.30pm some days and leaving at 6.45am each day.

Reply 9

Rainy

Placement 1 - AM: 35 min car and PM: 15 min walk, 40 min bus, 25 min walk
Placement 2 - 10 min bus + 5 min walk

Reply 10

Jimmy Mullen

Original post by jaime1986

1st Placement (one week) - 15 mins Car

2nd Placement (Oct-Jan) - 4 mins Car :smile:

3rd Placement (Feb - June) - 10 mins Car

4 mins??? They must have found your house on google maps (other map providers available) and sent you to the nearest school!

Reply 11

balloon_parade

Original post by Jimmy Mullen

4 mins??? They must have found your house on google maps (other map providers available) and sent you to the nearest school!

I can beat that, someone I know had one at the end of her road! It was 1 minute walking distance!

Reply 12

Jimmy Mullen

Good responses so far. Thanks to all who have posted. Interesting how many did/do combinations of things, first bike, then walk, then train etc. !

Myself I should be starting a PGCE in September and do not drive as there is excellent public transport in my area. I just hope my placements do not mean walking for vast amounts to a station/stop etc because heavy rain is likely to happen in that case !!!

Reply 13

Jimmy Mullen

Original post by balloon_parade

I can beat that, someone I know had one at the end of her road! It was 1 minute walking distance!

That would be very interesting. Especially if students from the school found out.
Just think of the possibilities if one of your teachers lived right next to the school!

Imagine the lessons: "Sir/Miss, You live over the road dont you! I saw you! I will wait out there for you tomorrow morning!" lol.

Reply 14

noodles!

One guy I know had a placement and has got a job that's around 5/10 minutes walk from his house- that's pretty good going, granted it's where our course is based and he moved there once he got a place! Don't think he's had any problems with kids knowing where he lives though, and I'm sure some of them must live on his road.

I'm quite glad I live 40-odd miles from my students at the moment, but if/when I get a job I'm going to try to move within walking distance of the school as I don't drive- just have to hope I don't move in next door to a student!

Reply 15

jaime1986

Original post by Jimmy Mullen

4 mins??? They must have found your house on google maps (other map providers available) and sent you to the nearest school!

There's actually another secondary school that's closer, but I went to that school myself and so requested that I wasn't placed there.

I have a car too, so no idea why I was placed there :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 16

*Darcie*

1st placement: 35min walk/7 mins getting a lift.
2nd placement: 45min bus/15 mins getting a lift.

At my uni they try their hardest to put non-drivers close to home. Some even lied and said they didn't drive as they knew they would more than likely be placed closer to home.

Reply 17

Jimmy Mullen

Original post by *Darcie*

I dont remember being asked about transport at all at my PGCE interview, and never really asked much about placement distances (probably should have). Anyway, they will know about it if they send me too far!!

Reply 18

affinity89

Original post by Jimmy Mullen

Durham didn't ask at interview, but they were in touch before September to ask about it. We were sent a letter in around July to list our address for the academic year and whether we had access to a car - that was meant to feed into our placements. For some of us, it worked really well [like me] but for others, it seems like they didn't take much notice of it at all.

All you can do, I suppose, is hope for the best. :redface:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 19

myrtille

I definitely discussed distance at my interview.

They asked me if I was planning on moving to Leicester, or staying where I live now and commuting, and I said that I intended to commute. They said that's not a problem and that they have some schools that aren't too far away, although they don't have links with any schools in my county.

They said they bear geography in mind, but it's not their top priority as they want to find the right school for each trainee, not just the nearest one. Really hope I don't get somewhere too far away.

At another interview, where I didn't get in, the university said they have a limit of 40 miles for people who drive, and 2 bus changes for those who don't. 40 miles is pretty far though - I'm commuting 20 miles each way at the moment and that takes about 45 minutes (though obviously it would depend what roads you have to use).