Unsuccessful PGCE applicants :( what will you do now?

Hi everyone

Just wanted to talk to people in the same boat as me . I found out yesterday that I was unsuccessful in my interview for the PGCE primary at UWIC/cardiff met and i'm heartbroken! I know competition is tough and I was aware that my chances were low and thought I was well prepared for a knockback, but reading that 'unsuccessful' on gttr is just devastating! Ive wanted to teach since I was 16 and all of my work/uni decisions have been based on that! I have been working in a primary school as a teaching assistant for three years working in both foundation Phase and KS2 and I am SO ready to take the next step! I have tons of experience and ive learned so much about school life and how classrooms work. I put so much time and effort into my application/ interview!
I will be reapplying next year and will be looking into the GTP route aswell but owch! It just hurts hopefully I will feel better soon. I keep thinking that im nearly 25 now, if this keeps happening I could be reeeeally old by the time I secure a place?! This is so important to me and I feel like somehow ive been rejected as a person I'm so unhappy right now. Is anyone else feeling as gloomy as me?

Sorry for my rant, I know time will give me more perspective and I will feel better but still

Agent J

You've got to remember though, that what you call "smooth talk for interviews" is, from the interviewer's point of view: cogency, articulacy, the ability to improvise and the fluency to keep things dynamic for a class.

Looks like that's me in the same boat now...

I was rejected by the University of Nottingham after an interview 2 weeks ago, and then on Friday I got a rejection from Nottingham Trent, without an interview. My application went on to Sheffield, but they're full, so it went to Sheffield Hallam today. I phoned them up and they said they're interviewing tomorrow for the last 2 places on the course, so it's unlikely I'll get an interview there.

I'm waiting to hear back about the GTP, but I know it's massively oversubscribed so I don't rate my chances very highly on that...

I'm just so frustrated at the prospect of killing time for another year. I didn't apply during my final year of university because I wasn't 100% sure it was what I wanted to do, so I only applied in December/January after I'd been working in a school for a few weeks. I'm 24, so even if I get on a course for 2013 entry, I'll be 26 by the time I start my NQT year.

I'm doing agency work (currently a cover teacher of MFL based in one school until Easter, but normally I move around a bit more doing day-to-day cover, and have done a short stint as a TA in a Pupil Referral Unit too), and it's ever so unreliable. I don't earn anything during school holidays, and it's hit-and-miss even in term-time.

It's fantastic experience and I've enjoyed a lot of the work I've done so far, but I might have to pack it in if I can get a full-time job doing something else. And then there's no guarantee I'll get in next year...

The biggest problem is that my degree isn't in the subject I've applied for. TeachFirst and the University of Nottingham gave me interviews, but Nottingham Trent rejected me outright. If I'd applied to teach MFL I'm almost certain I'd have a place by now, but it's not what I want to do with my life...

Sorry this is really long, I just needed to have a rant...

Thanks for the tip.

I've decided to contact the GTTR tomorrow and ask if I can apply to one more place. Basically they wasted one of my choices by sending my application on to Sheffield when the course was already full (the person I spoke to at Sheffield said they've contacted the GTTR about it, it's an IT error, and that it should be resolved by the 17th, but that's not much good to me!). So I'm hoping they'll allow me one more application...

I'm thinking of applying for MFL, even though I'd still ideally like to teach English. I'm currently working as a cover teacher of MFL (mostly French but a bit of German) from half-term to Easter, and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected. I'm not planning any lessons myself, but I'm working from lesson plans prepared by the head of department which require me to teach rather than just hand out work, and I'm teaching all year groups from 7 to 11. With this experience, and a 1st in French and History as well as AS German and GCSE Spanish, I probably have a lot more chance of getting onto an MFL PGCE!

I'm realising that teaching is a lot less about me and my own interests than I'd thought. It's not English, or French, or History that I want to do, it's teaching, and so I need to just go with what I'm best qualified to teach.

One of the reasons Leicester said they rejected me was because I say 'you know' and 'err...' quite a lot. They say this might transfer to the classroom as well and be of concern.

My question is this:

Can this ever really change? Say I managed to get enough courage to confidently pass my interview and they gave me an offer. Surely this means that, even though I'm on the course, who is to say that my 'you know' and stuttering won't still be present when I hit the classroom?

Surely there are people who seem nervous at interviews who make great teachers?

I understand they need to be rigorous but some of my favourite teachers at school were ones who weren't necessarily uber confident but had other qualities.

One of the reasons Leicester said they rejected me was because I say 'you know' and 'err...' quite a lot. They say this might transfer to the classroom as well and be of concern.

My question is this:

Can this ever really change? Say I managed to get enough courage to confidently pass my interview and they gave me an offer. Surely this means that, even though I'm on the course, who is to say that my 'you know' and stuttering won't still be present when I hit the classroom?

Surely there are people who seem nervous at interviews who make great teachers?

I understand they need to be rigorous but some of my favourite teachers at school were ones who weren't necessarily uber confident but had other qualities.

Hi sorry but this makes me laugh(not you the explanation they've given you)....I got rejected a few days ago from a different uni....anyway, the interviewer/lecturer was repeating "consequently" like every 3-4 words and another teacher was so red while explaining things about the course, her voice trembled and she laugh at herself and at the comments she made, unfortunately no one found it funny, but i'm sure that they are great at what they do...so yeah i'm with you on that one and at the end of the day you are expected to be nervous...

One of the reasons Leicester said they rejected me was because I say 'you know' and 'err...' quite a lot. They say this might transfer to the classroom as well and be of concern.

My question is this:

Can this ever really change? Say I managed to get enough courage to confidently pass my interview and they gave me an offer. Surely this means that, even though I'm on the course, who is to say that my 'you know' and stuttering won't still be present when I hit the classroom?

Surely there are people who seem nervous at interviews who make great teachers?

I understand they need to be rigorous but some of my favourite teachers at school were ones who weren't necessarily uber confident but had other qualities.

I'll copy in a bit of what I wrote in another thread:


"This is familiar ground for me now.

A bit of background:

I've taught abroad, done 2 teaching placements and I am predicted a first in BSc Mathematics.


I have applied for:

TeachFirst - Got rejected straight away, no interview. Rude.
Reading - Thought I got in but got given rejection 2 weeks later in November. No feedback given other than 'wasn't prepared'.
Leicester - Got interview in January. Rejection. Seemed to be completely based on how I did in the interview and my experience seems not to have been taken into account.
Nottingham Trent - Went on Wednesday and got my rejection the day after. The main reason for rejection was monotone voice, lack of confidence."

I'm gutted because I know I have enough experience and my grades are good enough it's just I haven't managed to master body language and smooth talk for interviews.

I'm thinking of doing SCITT but I'm taking a year out after I graduate and, God willing, I can get in a school and do teaching assistant work.

I'm quite appalled at this to be honest. Were there other, more substantial reasons for you being rejected?

The process is competitive and they do have to be rigorous but this is a poor reason to reject you in my opinion. I have worked in schools for two years and have had time in many teachers' classrooms. Some teachers are natural born entertainers, full of confidence and never appear nervous or uncomfortable in any situation. These have been teachers who've been in the profession for many years, as well as newly qualified teachers. On the other hand, I have come across teachers who are naturally introverted, quiet and quite shy - again, both experienced and NQTs. I've seen fantastic 'shy' teachers, and not so good extroverted teachers... There's absolutely no correlation in my experience!

Also, when I first started working in a school I was terrified! I went red walking into the class (as a TA), found it incredibly difficult to confront children who were being disruptive/not working (this was in secondary school), and dreaded the thought of having to address a group of more than three or four kids. This nervousness lasted all of a few days. Now I'm more than happy to confront children I don't know, shout at a whole class (regular occurrence ) and I feel confident and comfortable in any classroom.

What I am trying to say is please, please don't let this 'reason' put you off or make you think you can't be a good teacher. I am not a natural extrovert by any means, and I don't exude confidence at all! But once you've been in the environment for just a short amount of time, you become comfortable and less nervous. Don't get me wrong, the thought of being responsible for a whole class is scary but it should be - it's a massive responsibility and we have to take it seriously.

I don't know how much experience you have, but if you're planning to reapply I'd strongly advise getting as much experience in schools as you can. If nothing else, it will concrete your decision and you can learn so much, even if it's just a voluntary couple of days a month type thing.

They also said that I didn't reflect adequately on my experience and just generally gave the impression I was nervous.

Somewhat unusually, when I've been doing teaching assistant work and occasionally led a small group of students, I don't consider myself to be that shy or nervous anyway! I taught in a boy's school for 3 weeks as part of a placement and after a couple of days I was absolutely fine and really enjoyed trying out different methods with different kids. I got along with the naughtier students just fine (although getting them to do the work was a bit tougher ).

A lot of people around me, including careers advisors, are saying I should look at other options but, frankly, I can't see what else I'd enjoy! I can work in sectors like retail, engineering, business, research etc. but none are as appealing to me as teaching! Also, all my experience is in teaching so it's not as if I wouldn't need to take a year out anyway if I decided to switch to accountancy or whatever because they require specific experience in that area.

Btw where are you atm in the teaching process? Are you a full-time teacher?

Are you still a student at the moment? What are you studying?

Yeah I'm in 3rd year of Mathematics BSc and, of course, I want to teach maths (mainly because it's what I know most about at KS3/KS4 not necessarily what I enjoy most). I'm predicted a first and I'm (just!) on the right side of the border between first and 2:1.

Well good luck with the rest of final year! I think there are a lot of maths applicants at the moment because of the financial incentives offered (not saying that's why you, or lots of others, applied). If it's not what you enjoy the most, maybe you should look at teaching something else/primary? The point of a PGCE is that you learn to teach - including subject knowledge. Just something to think about.

If I am to do a year of work as a TA it's more likely to be in a primary school (looking at the vacancies published by my local council). This is another reason for me to do this year of experience and if I really enjoy it I'll definitely consider the primary PGCE.

Best wishes for you in your future too!

Dag

aargh, so just got rejected from London Met. That would be, counting last year, interview and rejection number 5.
I have Roehampton on the list too now, which just might possibly offer me an interview.

Blimey, I'm starting to wonder if these places are offering me interviews just to get some sadistic pleasure out of knocking me back. If there's such a wealth of amazing candidates applying, can't they just weed me out and strike me off the list from my statement and experience, and save me a lot of bother...

aargh, so just got rejected from London Met. That would be, counting last year, interview and rejection number 5.
I have Roehampton on the list too now, which just might possibly offer me an interview.

Blimey, I'm starting to wonder if these places are offering me interviews just to get some sadistic pleasure out of knocking me back. If there's such a wealth of amazing candidates applying, can't they just weed me out and strike me off the list from my statement and experience, and save me a lot of bother...