The Student Room Group

PGCE Explained?

Ok so I'm just about to start Year 13 in September so we'll be starting UCAS applications very soon. I've wanted to be a primary school teacher for the past 2 years so I've done work experience related to that.

I initially wanted to do a Primary Education with QTS course however I recently became really interested by Psychology (partly because I got an A) and now I'm starting to think maybe I could do Psychology for 3 years and then a PGCE in Primary...

An advantage of this would be that I wouldn't be set on ONE career as psychology can open up doors to many different pathways..

Basically what I wanted to know is what exactly is a PGCE? I understand that it's a 1 year course which trains you to become a teacher but what the government website didn't explain well was:

How is it funded?
Do you live in student accommodation?
Is it worth doing one?


Please give me as much information as you can, I'd really appreciate it :smile:
Original post by danmynett
Ok so I'm just about to start Year 13 in September so we'll be starting UCAS applications very soon. I've wanted to be a primary school teacher for the past 2 years so I've done work experience related to that.

I initially wanted to do a Primary Education with QTS course however I recently became really interested by Psychology (partly because I got an A) and now I'm starting to think maybe I could do Psychology for 3 years and then a PGCE in Primary...

An advantage of this would be that I wouldn't be set on ONE career as psychology can open up doors to many different pathways..

Basically what I wanted to know is what exactly is a PGCE? I understand that it's a 1 year course which trains you to become a teacher but what the government website didn't explain well was:

How is it funded?
Do you live in student accommodation?
Is it worth doing one?


Please give me as much information as you can, I'd really appreciate it :smile:


1) PGCE's are funded in the same way as undergraduate degrees via student finance. Student finance will loan the university money to pay your tuition fees- you start paying this back once you earn over £21,000. You can also take out a maintenance loan and if household income (i.e. parents you live with) is £42,000 or lower then you can also get a grant. There are also bursaries for those who got a 2:1 or 1st in their degree.

2) It's unlikely you'd live in student halls but most PGCE students would either live at home or live in a student flatshare as you would in the last couple of years of uni.

3) Well if you want to be a primary teacher then yes!

And you can get more answers if you post this in the PGCE section.
I did my primary PGCE via School Direct last year. If I knew at 18 that I wanted to teach, I probably would have done the undergrad course with QTS.

That said, if you do some child development modules as part of your psychology degree then that could be quite useful for you if you do eventually do the PGCE (or whatever teacher training the government have in place 4 yearss from now...!).
Psychology is a very interesting subject :smile: and like someone said you could pick relevant modules relating to child development etc. Maybe some modules relating to Sociology would be good as well. I did Psychology A Level and even recognize some of the names of theorists and studies I learnt about in A Level Psychology in the books I've been looking at from my Primary PGCE reading list!
I haven't met anyone who lived in halls during their PGCE year. I can categorically say that you absolutely wouldn't want that. It's an extremely hard year and the very last thing you'd want to do is be going out and living the student life! You'll be making resources and going to bed at 10 in order to be up at 6...

People do, however, flatshare in student accommodation. I'd strongly advise you to do this with other PGCE people though as it's simply incompatible with undergraduate courses in terms of what your lifestyle will be. It'll really help if you're all in it together.
Original post by danmynett

How is it funded?

You can get funding with SFE/SFW for a PGCE. You can also get a bursary depending on your undergraduate degree and its classification. I get £20,000 spread out over 10 months because I got a 2:1 in a Computer Science related discipline. This is not to be paid back and should be seen more as an income than anything. For some subjects at secondary level you can also get scholarships.


Do you live in student accommodation?


If you choose to do so but I haven't. I live just outside the city in a quiet area I can retreat to after a stressful day. I have the sea there I can go for a walk and unwind if I've had a bad day. I can't think of anything worse than a stressful full day and then coming home to students intent on pre-drinking and making noise.


Is it worth doing one?


Yes. I wouldn't be doing one if I didn't think so. If you're willing to put in the work then definitely but its going to be a hard year and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. It's not only what you want to do in life but its also great in terms of opening up opportunities for you on an international scale as well as its a respected qualification in places like Australia.

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