Not sure what uni to go to for PGCE

Honestly, it's the QTS qualification they look for in a teaching role. As long as you have that, they don't really care where you did the PGCE (it's less important in England; however, if you want to teach abroad, they might look at it more). So, go for whichever is best for YOU! The PGCE year can be a stressful one; you are both a proper teacher (with support) and a student - working a whole week within the school and having to do assignments. I'm assuming the Winchester Alliance is a SCITT? I've only done the uni-led route but from what I've heard from other SCITT/SD trainees, I'd personally be taking the uni-led route.
"two of the best comprehensive schools in the country" will not prepare you for the possibility of working in a hard school - which you might get in your career. You need to see all sides. My first placement school was a "if you can work here, you can work anywhere school", and even that didn't prepare me enough 🤣

Thanks for the advice. Im in similar predicament as the OP. What have you heard about the SCITT route as I’m deciding between a prestigious uni or local SCITT route. Any advice is appreciated thanks.

I have been offered places at both Oxford Uni and the Winchester Alliance school to teach English at secondary level. I know the prestige of Oxford would probably be good on my CV and I know more people who live there, but with Winchester I would be working in two of the best comprehensive schools in the country. Any advice of what would be best for my career long-term would be really helpful! Thanks!

Using my son´s account here and am a teacher. I did my PGCE at Cambridge and it definitely helps if you ever want to work in private schools or international, plus the quality of the course was excellent. There are probably also excellent schools in Oxford! Long-term, I would go for Oxford. If you only ever intend to work in state schools, then QTS is the most important thing, which you only get one year after your PGCE. I would definitely recommend doing the PGCE rather than SCITT. The extra time you have to reflect and learn away from a school is golden.

Honestly, it's the QTS qualification they look for in a teaching role. As long as you have that, they don't really care where you did the PGCE (it's less important in England; however, if you want to teach abroad, they might look at it more). So, go for whichever is best for YOU! The PGCE year can be a stressful one; you are both a proper teacher (with support) and a student - working a whole week within the school and having to do assignments. I'm assuming the Winchester Alliance is a SCITT? I've only done the uni-led route but from what I've heard from other SCITT/SD trainees, I'd personally be taking the uni-led route.
"two of the best comprehensive schools in the country" will not prepare you for the possibility of working in a hard school - which you might get in your career. You need to see all sides. My first placement school was a "if you can work here, you can work anywhere school", and even that didn't prepare me enough 🤣