Great to Teach

Applications are now open!

Why teacher training?

Train in one school. You’ll do most of your training in one school, giving you immediate opportunities to practise the theory you’ve learnt in a classroom, supported by teaching experts.

Be guided by a mentor. You will be paired with an experienced teacher who will make sure you are supported through your training.

Benefit from blended learning. Benefit from the high-quality academic training you’d expect to get from a university with immersive classroom learning.

Develop your expertise with evidence-based training. A high-quality curriculum, backed by the latest research and evidence, will help you focus on developing your expertise in your chosen subject (secondary) or phase (primary).

Have a balanced workload. This Teacher Training is designed to build your confidence in the classroom and respect your need for a life away from work.

Feel confident teaching. You’ll spend lots of time with subject experts going into depth about how to teach your subject (or subjects if teaching primary) in the most effective way.

How this programme differs from other teacher training options

This Teacher Training allows you to do most of your training in one school. You can put your academic learning into practice in a structured, step-by-step way, with your mentor and peers, before taking it live in the classroom.

Your dedicated mentor will be an experienced teacher who works in your school. They will provide one-to-one guidance and support throughout your training.

Your Training

This is hands-on programme is backed by the latest evidence-based teaching research. You’ll learn the theory of what makes a good teacher and put this learning into practice with your peers and mentor in the classroom. At every step, you will be supported by experts from your programme.

Each week, you’ll cover a module from one of these five programme strands

1. Behaviour: How you can create calm, safe and purposeful places of learning where all children and young people can achieve.
2. Instruction: How you can support all children and young people to learn in the classroom – from thinking about how you present information, to helping them learn independently in lessons.
3. Curriculum: How you can design lessons and curricula that help children and young people to learn new and more complex ideas over time.
4. Assessment: How you can better understand the impact your teaching is having and how to respond when your pupils struggle.
5. Professionalism: Looking at what it is to be a teacher and how to prepare for your professional career.

Each module starts by introducing you to the ideas and theories underpinning the practice. You will then learn, step-by-step, how to apply these ideas in your own classroom. Your tutors and mentor will make sure you have plenty of opportunities to see great teaching in action and understand the key learning before you put it into practice yourself.

We have designed the curriculum so that you:

• Focus intensely on areas of teaching we know can be complex and difficult to master.
• Tackle areas, like pupil behaviour, right from the beginning of your training.
• Revisit all your learning over time so that you keep improving.

There will be a combination of self-guided learning and face-to-face and online sessions with other trainees. In-school activities will include, classroom teaching practice, peer support and one-to-one guidance from your mentor.

You’ll also have:

• Focused topic weeks where we take a complex area of teaching and study it with the help of additional experts in education.
• Additional placement days outside of your school where you will experience the breadth of the education system in England.

You will be assessed through a mixture of written assignments and classroom observation.
In your day-to-day training there will be opportunities to show what you can do and where we can help you further. We’ll use a range of assessment tools to help you showcase your growing capabilities, inside and outside the classroom.

This is a 11 month (previously 12 month), full-time, postgraduate programme.

Secondary training
Secondary training will be the same as primary, except that at least 50% of your weekly modules will focus on your chosen secondary subject. This will provide an excellent opportunity for you to develop your expertise in teaching this subject, alongside your core teacher training.

Qualified teacher status (QTS)
Once you have completed your training, and demonstrated what you have learned in the classroom, you’ll receive qualified teacher status (QTS). This allows you to teach in any school run by a local authority in England.
Postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE)
When you have successfully completed our programme, you will also receive a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE), an internationally recognised qualification. The PGCE is worth 60 credits towards a Master’s degree.