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UCL PGCE Thread

Hi,

Just thought I would make a thread to connect other offer holders for UCL IOE's PGCE, both primary and Secondary so we can all chat!

I have accepted a place on the languages PGCE to start in 2024, and I can't wait for September to roll around!
(edited 1 year ago)

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Reply 1
Original post by eddieh23
Hi,

Just thought I would make a thread to connect other offer holders for UCL IOE's PGCE, both primary and Secondary so we can all chat!

I have accepted a place on the languages PGCE to start in 2024, and I can't wait for September to roll around!

Congratulations eddieh23, I also got a conditional offer for PGCE-SCIENCE(Physics) Secondary
Reply 2
Hi, I have accepted my offer for the Early Primary PGCE starting in September!
Hi, I have an interview for PGCE science: Biology. Just wondering about the pre written material that has to be completed. When it asks you to pick one of the big ideas does that mean the large blue heading or the slightly smaller ones. Any help would be huge, thanks.
Reply 4
Original post by Graciet434
Hi, I have an interview for PGCE science: Biology. Just wondering about the pre written material that has to be completed. When it asks you to pick one of the big ideas does that mean the large blue heading or the slightly smaller ones. Any help would be huge, thanks.

Hi! Im applying too! I think it means to pick a subsection and focus on the bullet points under that subsection. So for example i'm weak in physics so could choose 'sound waves' under the big idea "waves" and follow their cues. Have you chosen your topic for the 5 minute presentation? i'm worrying more about that at the moment.
Reply 5
I just accepted a place for the languages PGCE too! What languages are you doing?
Reply 6
Original post by eddieh23
Hi,
Just thought I would make a thread to connect other offer holders for UCL IOE's PGCE, both primary and Secondary so we can all chat!
I have accepted a place on the languages PGCE to start in 2024, and I can't wait for September to roll around!

Congratulations Eddie! I just accepted an offer doing PGCE Secondary English
Reply 7
Original post by TutkuK
Hi,
I had an interview for primary PGCE at UCL. How long do they take to give you an offer?
Hi, I'm sure you did well! They told me it would take up to a week at the maximum, but I found out far sooner than that. I hope this helps :smile:
Reply 8
Hey guys. I’ve accepted my offer for a primary pgce in early jan. And I’ve been waiting to receive the dbs+occupational health checks ever since. Not sure when to expect for them to contact me ?
Reply 9
Original post by Sabi561
Hey guys. I’ve accepted my offer for a primary pgce in early jan. And I’ve been waiting to receive the dbs+occupational health checks ever since. Not sure when to expect for them to contact me ?

Hey, I called a couple of months ago and they said to expect info in 4-6 weeks but haven't had anything through yet. I sent a query recently so I'll let you know what they say - otherwise you could give them a call and ask 🙂 hope this helps
Reply 10
Original post by Sbsyahbau
Hey, I called a couple of months ago and they said to expect info in 4-6 weeks but haven't had anything through yet. I sent a query recently so I'll let you know what they say - otherwise you could give them a call and ask 🙂 hope this helps

Thank you 🤗💕
Original post by eddieh23
Hi,
Just thought I would make a thread to connect other offer holders for UCL IOE's PGCE, both primary and Secondary so we can all chat!
I have accepted a place on the languages PGCE to start in 2024, and I can't wait for September to roll around!

Hi, me too. Look forward to meeting you.
Original post by lucycshaw
I just accepted a place for the languages PGCE too! What languages are you doing?

Hi, me too. Congratulations! I will be doing French with German. How about you?
Reply 13
Original post by Ojiya
Congratulations eddieh23, I also got a conditional offer for PGCE-SCIENCE(Physics) Secondary

Congratulations! What questions do they ask for interview and what Did you use for interview?
Reply 14
Original post by jdeantzx
Hi! Im applying too! I think it means to pick a subsection and focus on the bullet points under that subsection. So for example i'm weak in physics so could choose 'sound waves' under the big idea "waves" and follow their cues. Have you chosen your topic for the 5 minute presentation? i'm worrying more about that at the moment.

Hi have you had your interview yet! What did you choose for the 5 min presentation along with the prop. What comes up? Do I need to know the whole syllabus of science?
Original post by Sabi561
Hey guys. I’ve accepted my offer for a primary pgce in early jan. And I’ve been waiting to receive the dbs+occupational health checks ever since. Not sure when to expect for them to contact me ?


I received my email with all the details today 👍
Reply 16
Original post by Philberfox
I received my email with all the details today 👍

What came up for the interview questions? Do you have to go over the whole syllabus
Reply 17
Original post by ykarlxnx
I got my offer from UCL on the Primary PGCE course!! I have one more interview but I think I might accept the UCL offer!!
I thought I'd share the interview process for any future applicants:
[English audit, 1 hour]
Read a piece of text and create a blog post
[Math audit, 45 mins]
Honestly cannot remember a thing
[Group presentation, 2 mins]
I selected an article from the Telegraph called “We are in danger of creating a nation of lost Einsteins” which highlights the lack of leadership in schools causing a dominion effect towards wider society. Therefore, the article raises the huge importance of schooling and exposure to role models in fulfilling one's potential.
As a teacher, I can address the challenges highlighted in the article by prioritizing the education of my pupils and adapting their learning to the needs of wider society. I will set high expectations for my students, inspiring and motivating them to reach their full potential. A crucial component of the teachers’ standards that the article raises for.
Additionally, I will go beyond the classroom by bringing in more visitors, showcasing relevant real-world examples and my experiences of travelling to expose my students to success stories and different communities. To plan this effectively I would create a schema in lesson planning to help students arrange these ideas and role models to provide sense and relevance to their prior knowledge.
Exposing them to real-world examples of success, within and beyond the classroom, provides children with another perceived path for themselves and creates a safe and stimulating environment that will also be crucial in ensuring that my students can thrive academically and personally.
^^ This was my notes for the presentation ^^
One thing I noticed from the other people is they focused a lot on their chosen current issue in Primary Education rather than their reflections on the implications as a new teacher. This avoided the purpose of the presentation since they wanted to see how you would consider these issues in your practices.
The interviewers would already know of some of the issues you'll bring up and statistics, I was the only one who talked about an article, which they never heard of. Show your enthusiasm as an educator and what you'll bring to your new classroom, this is the section of the presentation you should focus more on.
Have fun with it, I know it's such a stereotypical thing to say but I feel like because of how unserious I was and enthusiastic I was It was a portrayal of how I'll be as a primary school teacher.
Lastly, I was the second person to present in that interview but even though you finished early make sure you're engaged with everyone else's presentations, I did those to remember everyone's names and ideas as this will be useful to take into the collaborative task.
[Collaborative task, 12 mins]
Imagine you're in a meeting together as future teachers to discuss an outdoor lesson plan for a year 2 maths class.

Make notes of my ideas quickly

Take notes of other people's ideas

Grow and develop other people's ideas

I was kinda of worried about this because I only spoke twice and everyone was throwing in ideas so quickly I was confused about the direction of the conversation, I think one thing that helped is I noticed it and I developed someone else's idea which circled back the conversation into the right direction.
[1:1 interview, 30 mins]
- quite a common question that has come up for me in PGCE interviews
!! also please note these questions are not word-for-word
Why do you want to teach?

Draw on my experiences as an education graduate & TA

To inspire and motivate the lives of a future generation

Why do you want to teach primary?

Mentioned how the school acts as a bridge between the family and society

Importance of early years education

What makes you a good teacher?

Willingness to learn, UCL aim to teach critically reflective teachers

Strong relationship with the community

The subject you will be good at and excited to teach? and one you'll find challenging and how you'll overcome it.

What you enjoy as a student and what you can bring into the classroom

Talk about planning and preparing, seeing information from a student perspective

What are the factors of underachievement and how can they be handled?

Try to give 2 or more examples of underachievement, I gave EAL and SEN needs

Draw on experiences

How do you adapt to pressure?

Mention how you'll ask for support, I didn't mention that but they prompted me to ops…

Talked about my why and had time to reflect before taking a situation


I just wanted to reply back to you to tell you YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE STAR! I just got an offer from UCL Primary course and your answer helped me so much. It followed the exact same structure and just sosoososososo helpful. Thank you so much!! :smile:))) <333
Reply 18
Hi everyone,

I have applied at UCL for Primary PGCE and got my offer about two weeks ago. I applied quite late compared to most people but just wanted to share my experience.

When applying, UCL was my goal as it is much closer to me and their programmes are very good so with that in mind I made sure I knew absolutely everything that they expect from me and everything about them.

When writing my personal statement that tried to stay away from mentioning clichés as often they were looked down upon but I still mentioned things that my school experience showcased to me and why it was important. I think mentioning you have some sort of experience with children such as observing lessons, or mentoring, tutoring etc, are extremely important to show to them that you are definitely still passionate to work in those sort of roles.

Anyways, my interview involved the following:

Group interview: Roughly (40 minutes long)

introductions ( two UCL recruiters and 5 other applicants)

Share a memorable experience from your time at school that stood out to you ( here I think it’s so important to be yourself and mean what you say, don’t make it up because you will loose yourself, have a true and meaningful experience)

Presentation: before your interview you are told to research an issue within schools and present it ( 2 minutes max). I think it’s so important you prep this before you present because nerves will get to you on the day. I peeped mine I think a week before, and wrote down everything I wanted to say and I had little reference points in front of me incase I forget anything. I picked an article by the guardian on Children with Special Needs and Disabilities, forgot the name now but I firstly mentioned a statistic luckily the one I picked had a statistic in the title so there was no point wasting time mentioning another. Then I said how I as a teacher can address this challenge without support or state funds. It was pretty easy in my opinion.

as an extra point to anyone stressing about it , for my group loads of people didn’t bother with how they presented themselves (dress code) and some people didn’t even prepare for the tasks or knew what they had to do. So I think if you prepare in advance you are very likely to get that offer.


Then I had the 1:1 interview ( approx 30 minutes, mine was only 14)

Very straight forwards questions. I got asked why I would like to be a teacher and why at UCL, what qualities do I have that would make a good teacher. And two scenarios based questions ( one on safeguarding and one on how intense the PGCE course is, how would I deal with the pressure of that)

Tip: don’t beat around the bush with your answer, be stright forward and answer the questions.

I got worried that mine was only 14 minutes, but I game a stright to the point answer.


Audits: English (60 minutes) Maths (50minutes)

the English test was not too bad, I had to read a text and write about it. I don’t remember exactly what it was on and what I wrote but I remember that I made sure to link it to me as a teacher ( teacher standards and national curriculum)

The maths test is pretty simple. I thought it would be difficult. But it really wasn’t. If you can do ks2,3 math you are good to go.

Reply 19
Original post by ozara2000
Congratulations Eddie! I just accepted an offer doing PGCE Secondary English

Hi! I am applying for PGCE Secondary English for the 25/26 intake and I have a few questions -- may I send you a PM? thanks a million

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