How Much Work Experience Needed For Primary Education

That sounds like enough experience, try and work with different age groups if you can as you can compare the two at interview!

Good luck with your application. Where are you looking to apply?

Reply 4

OP

thankyou very much everybody for writing a comment and helping :smile:

i havent carried out my experience yet, im starting it in september. I've rang up the schools myself because i went to notts trent and they said they much rather have students who look for the experience themselves than getting it through a college.
I know in one school i am going to be with ages 5-6, but in october time i will ask if i could change ages ranges depending if they are flexible!
hoping to go to notts trent, that's my top choice definately! but no doubt i wont get in there, so next would be derby or lincoln bishop grossette!
thankyou! :smile:

Reply 5

Becca-Sarah

Does it need to be long term work exp? My boyfriend is going into his final year of a Psychology degree, looking to do Primary PGCE next year, and he's done a month at a local primary, doing 2 or 3 days a week. He's doing a few days in a secondary school next month too. Is that enough or does he need to be doing more primary stuff this term?

Reply 6

oxymoronic

Becca-Sarah

Does it need to be long term work exp? My boyfriend is going into his final year of a Psychology degree, looking to do Primary PGCE next year, and he's done a month at a local primary, doing 2 or 3 days a week. He's doing a few days in a secondary school next month too. Is that enough or does he need to be doing more primary stuff this term?

No - most places say that for primary the work experience has to be within the last year and amount to at least 2 weeks in total before you actually apply for the course. You don't need to have done 2 weeks in one go, you could do an afternoon a week over the academic year or something like that, so from what you've said, it seems to be fine :smile:

If he can have some on going experience whilst applying that will be good too, but it isn't mandatory - I didn't, mine was all in the past.

If your boyfriend is applying to Aberdeen (or anywhere in Scotland) then good luck to him - acceptance rates were less than 10% this year for primary :frown:

Reply 7

Becca-Sarah

oxymoronic

No - most places say that for primary the work experience has to be within the last year and amount to at least 2 weeks in total before you actually apply for the course. You don't need to have done 2 weeks in one go, you could do an afternoon a week over the academic year or something like that, so from what you've said, it seems to be fine :smile:

If he can have some on going experience whilst applying that will be good too, but it isn't mandatory - I didn't, mine was all in the past.

If your boyfriend is applying to Aberdeen (or anywhere in Scotland) then good luck to him - acceptance rates were less than 10% this year for primary :frown:

Thanks, oxy! Nah, his PGCE year will be the year I intercalate, which (fingers crossed) means I'll be in London, so he can go wherever he likes - unlikely to be Scotland though.

Reply 8

OP

that's good hearing that because mine will amount to about 24 days once i get to christmas :biggrin:

heres to hoping for notts trent!

Reply 9

BabigurlHeidi

thankyou very much everybody for writing a comment and helping :smile:

i havent carried out my experience yet, im starting it in september. I've rang up the schools myself because i went to notts trent and they said they much rather have students who look for the experience themselves than getting it through a college.
I know in one school i am going to be with ages 5-6, but in october time i will ask if i could change ages ranges depending if they are flexible!
hoping to go to notts trent, that's my top choice definitely! but no doubt i wont get in there, so next would be derby or lincoln bishop grossette!
thankyou! :smile:

Have faith in yourself if you get an interview! If you are confident in yourself you will come across well :smile:

Bishop Grosseteste is LOVELY....not that I am biased!

Reply 10

OP

id like to go lincoln but because im commuting its just easier for me to go to notts or derby! i dont really care where i go to be honest because its getting that hard to get in, its hard when your doing your college course and trying to fit everything in! just hope it pays off x

Reply 11

oxymoronic

Becca-Sarah

Thanks, oxy! Nah, his PGCE year will be the year I intercalate, which (fingers crossed) means I'll be in London, so he can go wherever he likes - unlikely to be Scotland though.

Just remembered - make sure he get experience across the different key stages. The universities really dislike it if you've done a fortnight at one school and only been in one class for the entire time. They want you to have seen what happens across all of the stages so you can think/see/compare the different teaching and learning styles :smile:

Reply 12

Becca-Sarah

little_k

Have faith in yourself if you get an interview! If you are confident in yourself you will come across well :smile:

Bishop Grosseteste is LOVELY....not that I am biased!

Bishop Grots is lovely! My mum just graduated from there with her Foundation Degree for Learning Practitioners :biggrin:

Reply 13

Becca-Sarah

Bishop Grots is lovely! My mum just graduated from there with her Foundation Degree for Learning Practitioners :biggrin:

Aw yay! I'm so excited to be starting!

Reply 14

cherbearbunnykins

8

Becca-Sarah

Does it need to be long term work exp? My boyfriend is going into his final year of a Psychology degree, looking to do Primary PGCE next year, and he's done a month at a local primary, doing 2 or 3 days a week. He's doing a few days in a secondary school next month too. Is that enough or does he need to be doing more primary stuff this term?

I'd say as much as possible and as others have said; make sure it is across different age groups. My boyfriend applied for a PGCE Primary last year with just over a months experience (going into school every day) and he didn't get in...they told him it was because he didn't have enough experience :frown:

Reply 15

OP

okay thankyou, I will ask at my placement then if I could stay after christmas and work with a different age group. :smile:

Also, Im 21 and have been out of education for two years so i'm doing an access course. This was because my father died from cancer and I kinda lost my whole way of life.
Do you think this will affect my chances of them accepting me?? Also, i know you can apply up until jan 2011 for next year, but is that too late because alot of places are known to be full up by then? Eventhough i don't think it's fair! lol
thankyou guysss :smile:

x

Reply 16

BabigurlHeidi

okay thankyou, I will ask at my placement then if I could stay after christmas and work with a different age group. :smile:

Also, Im 21 and have been out of education for two years so i'm doing an access course. This was because my father died from cancer and I kinda lost my whole way of life.
Do you think this will affect my chances of them accepting me?? Also, i know you can apply up until jan 2011 for next year, but is that too late because alot of places are known to be full up by then? Eventhough i don't think it's fair! lol
thankyou guysss :smile:

x

Not necessarily, as long as you apply by the UCAS deadline you should be alright.

Many of the unis I applied to said you should try and apply as early as possible, I had my application in for November. I had two before Christmas, but the other two were after the deadline, and it seemed as if they'd waited for all potential applicants. I'd say try and get it in early, but don't panic if not!

Good luck!

Reply 17

fishp00

All unis have to consider applicants before end of Jan equally. It is not the quanitity of experience in school that counts, it is the quality: work shadow a teacher, look at planning, assessment, record keeping...look at a range of age groups...

Reply 18

StrangeAttraction

I did 1 full week last June and 1 half-day a week for 10 weeks from October-December, got asked for interview by all 5 of my choices, and, well, see my signature. It's really not so much how much you've done, but how much you can show that you've learnt from what you've done. A wealth of experience to draw on certainly doesn't hurt your chances though, and it's a very good idea to keep a record of anecdotes you can use at interview.

Early application is a good idea - at one interview I had, they did say that the later your interview is, the more difficult it is because they've already made offers and thus don't have as many places to give. This said, I applied in November and had my last interview in March; I was still offered a place and I'm hopefully starting with them in September.

Best of luck =)

Reply 19

Amywoody2009