PGCE Modern Languages - where should I go?

Hi all,

I have applied to Bath, Institute of Education, Goldsmiths and Bristol (in that order) to train to be a secondary Modern Languages teacher (well, French teacher until I learn another language).

I currently have an interview for Bath, but am having second thoughts, mainly because I've discovered that the placement schools will probably be outside the city itself, and up to 30 miles away. Basically, I would love to live in Bath, but I'm not keen on ending up with the choice of either having to live in a sleepy town miles from Bath, or having to commute.

I realise that this is an issue with a lot of PGCE courses, especially at providers based in smaller cities. That's why I'm considering passing on Bath and trying out the IoE. This of course has it's own downsides - the main one being the higher cost of living in London.

I'd rather be able to interview for the both and make my decision then, but of course that's not an option and if I'm going to give up Bath, I have to give it up for good (or so I understand).

What are everyone's thoughts on this? Is Bath or IoE a better place to do a PGCE in modern languages? Where do Bath/IoE trainees get placed? Any experiences?

Thank you in advance!

I think wherever you go, commuting will be an issue. Even if you're in London, commuting to different areas of London can take an age (seriously - my friend lives on the outskirts and it takes her longer to get from their flat to Euston than it does from Euston to Birmingham!), so I wouldn't count on that saving you commute time/stress.

I'm at a university in the Midlands for my MFL PGCE and my 2 schools have been 20 miles and 25 miles from the university (but only 13 and 8 miles from where I live...)

Do you have a car? If so, I'd say go for Bath as whilst you'll have to commute, at least your commute will be more bearable (ie: you don't have to walk in the cold and rain to a bus stop with all your stuff, etc.) If you don't have a car, the university may take this into account and try to give you placements closer to where you're living but this can't be guaranteed. You can always ask about it at interview.

Good luck.

Thank you for your reply! Yeah, I'm hearing a lot about this commuting malarkey!

I don't have a car and getting one will put an unwanted dent in the finances. Also I'm wondering if this will either put me at an advantage or disadvantage; if I say I have one then they'll likely put me a long way from Bath, if I say I don't then they'll say I have to live in the other place, maybe.

Or maybe I'm just being too fussy.