3 Year vs 4 Year course

What's the difference betewen the 3 and 4 year courses? Do you get to spend a year doing work experience during the 4 year one? In which case, I'd say it's very valuable.

Reply 2

natt5253

8

The 4 year at brighton included a complementary placement in the 3rd year where you work in an educational setting that isnt a school.
You also specialise in a subject from year 2 which is good.
=]

Reply 3

OP

Original post by natt5253

The 4 year at brighton included a complementary placement in the 3rd year where you work in an educational setting that isnt a school.
You also specialise in a subject from year 2 which is good.
=]

Actually I remember Leeds saying something about a setting that isn't an educational setting! Would you say that's really beneficial?

For those who asked it doesn't offer a year teaching or else I'd have definitely took that! It's still 32 weeks in a primary school over the 4 years.

It's for the Early Years 3 - 7 at Leeds Trinity

xx

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

natt5253

8

Original post by Lazylisa

Actually I remember Leeds saying something about a setting that isn't an educational setting! Would you say that's really beneficial?

For those who asked it doesn't offer a year teaching or else I'd have definitely took that! It's still 32 weeks in a primary school over the 4 years.

It's for the Early Years 3 - 7 at Leeds Trinity

xx

I'm only in the firsy year of the course but from what has been said it is amazingly benificail. One person last year worked in the education section of a local prision!
Its a good way of building up confidence, it gives you longer to achieve evidence for your QTS standards and it spreads the work out a bit more
=]

Reply 5

OP

Original post by natt5253

I'm only in the firsy year of the course but from what has been said it is amazingly benificail. One person last year worked in the education section of a local prision!
Its a good way of building up confidence, it gives you longer to achieve evidence for your QTS standards and it spreads the work out a bit more
=]

Yeah that's what I was thinking...I know I probably shouldn't say this for the career I'm going into but I'm not the greatest with pressure and motivation when things get stressful! That's why I was mainly interested to see if anyone thought it would mean the work was slightly more spread out than a 3 year course :biggrin:

Thanks, that's really helped! xx

Reply 6

oxymoronic

Original post by fibrebiz

Actually, a 4 year course does not mean work is more spread out.

In my case, the schedule gets tougher each successive year, so a four year means that I have an even tougher year than the 3 year, but I get a higher qualification.
Tell us which career path you're thinking of, it makes a MASSIVE difference in matters like these

This is the education forum.
The OP is applying for a degree in primary education.

A teaching degree is not comparable to a 3 or a 4 year geology degree.

Reply 7

oxymoronic

Original post by Lazylisa

Basically, would you advise me to go for a 3 or 4 year course? Would you say 4 year courses are more spread out from people you've spoke to/your own experience, or do you think it's just an opportunity to gain more experience in schools?
:biggrin:

xx

I'd try and find out how the placements work at the universities.

I'm doing a PGCE and in my first placement school there was also a girl in the 4th year of a BEd degree. She only had a 6 week placement in the entire of her 4th year, which was from October half term until the Christmas holidays. After that, she just had 6 months to do her dissertation and apply for jobs. She was really worried about September as by that point she won't have taught in school for 9 months and said that she'd only done 9 weeks in school in her 3rd year too, which was split into 3 lots of 3 weeks at different points in the year. They were only really expected to teach in 3rd and 4th year, in the first two years they were just basically TAs. I had a first year BEd in my class last term and she didn't do an awful lot, I just got her to do sticking and things with the kids as she didn't want to do anything else.

If you do the same number of weeks over 4 years as you do in 3 years, I'd probably go for the 3 year course as you'll get more time in school in a shorter period of time which will make you more used to teaching for when you finally do your NQT year. I'd be really really scared about starting my NQT year if I had only been in school for 6 weeks in the 18 months prior to starting the job, which is what was happening with these girls.

To be honest, I can't really work out what even happens in a BEd as they don't really spend that much longer in school in comparison to PGCEs (I think its about 4 weeks longer, so a week per year) so god knows what they do for the remainder of the time when they're at uni.... but from my experience of the few weeks of PGCE uni stuff I wouldn't be signing up for an extra year if I could help it.

Reply 8

starfired

A four year degree to do what you could do in 3 years sounds expensive... I imagine that either way you're going to have stressy periods when you have lots of deadlines/stuff going on, it's just something that you have to deal with and work around. I think you need to compare the course structure of the 3 and 4 year courses and decide if the 4 year course is really worth another years worth of fees/not working. You also should think about if you'll be fed up of being a student after three years. I never thought I would be fed up with being involved int he Students Union and stuff but now I've been here for four years I'm definately itching to move on!

Reply 9

AwakeandUnafraid

Original post by oxymoronic

To be honest, I can't really work out what even happens in a BEd as they don't really spend that much longer in school in comparison to PGCEs (I think its about 4 weeks longer, so a week per year) so god knows what they do for the remainder of the time when they're at uni

It is an undergraduate degree so when not in school we are attending lectures and seminars like every other undergraduate. We're not just bumming around between placements, trust me. :smile:

Also, to the person who said that a four year degree can offer you the opportunity to work in alternative educational settings, I am on a three year course at CCCU and we also get an opportunity to work in an alternative setting here or abroad in our second year. You have to weigh up whether a few weeks more experience in schools is really worth the £7k extra dept. Personally I didn't (and still don't) think that an extra year is necessary, but it is up to you.

Reply 10

OP

Hmmm I emailed them to ask where the extra academic year comes from and they said:

Over the 4 years students gain more school based training time, making up 1 complete academic year over the 4 years of the course.
This does also mean that if a student wishes to, they can do their last period of school based training in the school they have gained employment in if they wish to.

I know that the fees are only half for the 4th year, so instead of being £3,000 it'd be £1,500. And it appears they do offer more experience after all.

I just can't make my mind up....like someone said, I'll probably get tired of being a student after 4 years! But then I also want to move away for the Student experience and the independence!

There's just so many pros and cons :frown:

Would you guys take it for the experience and only half of the fees? Even though it'll cost me more in accommodation etc hmmm

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 11

AwakeandUnafraid

Personally, I would rather be gaining that extra experience as a paid NQT than getting myself further in debt. If you feel that you can afford it though and that it would be beneficial, go for it.

Maybe it would be an idea to list all the pros and all the cons? Might help you make a decision.

Reply 12

oxymoronic

Original post by AwakeandUnafraid

It is an undergraduate degree so when not in school we are attending lectures and seminars like every other undergraduate. We're not just bumming around between placements, trust me. :smile:

.

Yeah, I know.... but what do you actually do???

I've had enough of all of the lectures/seminars/uni based side of teaching and I'm on the PGCE so we've only had 10 weeks of it for the entire course. I just can not envisage what one would actually do over 3 years as I just find it really pointless (even though I do actually like the theoretical side) and would much rather be in school.

But that's beyond the point of this thread :smile:

Original post by Lazylisa

I know that the fees are only half for the 4th year, so instead of being £3,000 it'd be £1,500. And it appears they do offer more experience after all.

Why is it half fees for the 4th year? :s-smilie:

That really does sound like it'll be a waste of time and them just trying to get money from you!

You only need a certain amount of days to get QTS, once you've had all of those it doesn't make any difference if you've done a few more. As someone else has said, given the choice, you'd get a lot more experience from doing your NQT year in your 4th year rather than paying half fees on some degree course.

Reply 13

im1190

8

Original post by Lazylisa

I know people probably can't give an unbiased answer to this because they'll have only done one or the other, but basically what do you think the difference is?

I'm trying to decide between a 3 and 4 year course, obviously both are going to be very demanding, stressful and hard work because all degrees are. I've always said I'd prefer to go for a 3 year course because I want to get into the job as quickly as possible, but now people are saying to me a 4 year course would be better as it'll be slightly spread out more. I'm now also beginning to think that it's an extra year to learn and build up my confidence as the thought of going into teaching at 21 sounds quite scary!

Basically, would you advise me to go for a 3 or 4 year course? Would you say 4 year courses are more spread out from people you've spoke to/your own experience, or do you think it's just an opportunity to gain more experience in schools?
:biggrin:

xx

I'm doing a 4 year BEd Primary Education course at Plymouth university next year, and a 3 year BA Primary Education at UWE is my insurance choice :smile:

My reasons for liking 4 years over 3:

- I get to build up confidence. Like you said, going into teaching at 21 does sound daunting - in three years time having my own class of pupils who I am supposed to know everything about teaching and lesson planning/delivering/structure, assessment, class management, there is just so much of it! I need more confidence in myself and feel 4 years will help me feel more confidence in my teaching abilities at the end.
- The course had more opportunities for me - teaching experiences abroad (possibly USA, Finland, Gambia) and the possibility of having teaching experience outside of my age range (maybe experience of a early years or secondary school).
- I get to specialise in a subject and spend time learning how to lead an area of the curriculum. At the 3 year course not as much emphasis was put on this, perhaps because of time constraints.
- I don't like the idea of being thrown in at the deep end straight away. Of course I am up for the challenge of teaching, but feel four years gives me a less stressful route where I can really get to know the ropes without feeling rushed.
- I feel all of these together might also help with a chance of getting a job - showing I have applied my knowledge to various situations and have a wide range of teaching experiences. Of course this is just hopeful thinking in 4 years time, but it definitely isn't going to hurt having taken a longer course :smile:

Of course there are reasons not due to the course length that I like that helped me to chose to study there! Hope I helped! xx

Reply 14

AwakeandUnafraid

Original post by oxymoronic

Yeah, I know.... but what do you actually do???

I've had enough of all of the lectures/seminars/uni based side of teaching and I'm on the PGCE so we've only had 10 weeks of it for the entire course. I just can not envisage what one would actually do over 3 years as I just find it really pointless (even though I do actually like the theoretical side) and would much rather be in school.

We have seminars in NC subjects to improve subject knowledge and understand how to plan and teach them. Then we have professional studies where we look into general teaching issues, complete projects on them and what not. I don't know really, I guess we just do what you do but more in depth. :confused:

The uni side of it does get tedious though I agree, you learn so much more from actually being in the classroom.

Reply 15

OP