Becoming a primary school teacher - SCITT vs PGCE Part Time

Hi all, looking for advice. I'm currently a Teaching Assistant at a primary school, have been for just a few months now, but I want to become a teacher. I'm just wondering what the best route to get into teaching is, though I know it varies depending on the person so looking for advice.

I have health problems which make it difficult for me to work full time (currently working 25 hours a week), so I'm reluctant to go down the SCITT route as I know it's quite intense full time, where as there are some universities that offer part time PGCE's over two years (though I know placements are full time - think I could manage that).

Do schools look favourably upon one route than another, or are both equally appealing to potential recruiters? How hard is it to get a part time primary teaching role post qualification?

Advice and opinions on each route welcome.

Thanks all!

Reply 1

SarcAndSpark

20

I think most routes are viewed pretty evenly by employers, but having the PGCE can look good on your CV if you ever want to teach abroad, for example.

With the PGCE, you may struggle to find somewhere that will let you do your NQT year part time (although it is possible).

Do talk to current part time teachers about their workloads. Most teachers I have spoken to who work, say 0.6 (so teaching 3 days or the equivalent) say they are working about full time hours across the week to keep up with their planning/marking etc. Would you be able to cope with this?

I do think there is more competition for part time roles- especially at primary as a lot of working parents want these. The level of competition can be quite localised, so do talk to teachers in your area too.

Reply 2

Cazaline87

OP

3

Thanks for your reply SarcAndSpark. I feel like I'm leaning more towards the PGCE because I can do it part time, and also because it gives me the option to teach abroad if I were ever to move. I will talk to the teacher in my current school who works part time and ask her how she went about it, she may well have been full time and switched to part time though, which I imagine is easier to do once you're in a job. I think I'd be fine working three days and planning and marking on the 4th day.

Thanks again for your help and advice.

Reply 3

makan

5

It's not actually easy to find part-time training places or university PGCE courses, particularly if you're limited to a particular area (I know - I can't move out of London and there wasn't a suitable local course for me). Good luck to you but please be aware there might not be the choices you hope for.

Reply 4

username1799249

19

Original post by SarcAndSpark

With the PGCE, you may struggle to find somewhere that will let you do your NQT year part time (although it is possible).

I don't think that is true. In my school (secondary) two of our NQT intake were on 60% contracts. As a result, their NQT will extend until November this year. I think the biggest obstacle will be finding a school happy to hire part time if the candidate field is ready to do full time rolls. Full time is no doubt much easier to administer. But I may be wrong.

Reply 5

SarcAndSpark

20

Original post by Cazaline87

Thanks for your reply SarcAndSpark. I feel like I'm leaning more towards the PGCE because I can do it part time, and also because it gives me the option to teach abroad if I were ever to move. I will talk to the teacher in my current school who works part time and ask her how she went about it, she may well have been full time and switched to part time though, which I imagine is easier to do once you're in a job. I think I'd be fine working three days and planning and marking on the 4th day.

Thanks again for your help and advice.

Do speak to some current part time teachers about their workload. I think it would be more like teaching 3 days the planning and marking is more likely to fill the 2 days off. But as I say you should speak to current teachers about this.

Original post by ByEeek

I don't think that is true. In my school (secondary) two of our NQT intake were on 60% contracts. As a result, their NQT will extend until November this year. I think the biggest obstacle will be finding a school happy to hire part time if the candidate field is ready to do full time rolls. Full time is no doubt much easier to administer. But I may be wrong.

I don't think this contradicts what I said? All I said was may struggle, not that it's impossible. In many areas there's more competition for Primary jobs and especially more competition for part time primary jobs.

I'm sure it is possible to find a part time primary nqt post but I just think it could be a struggle.

Becoming a primary school teacher - SCITT vs PGCE Part Time

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