Working in Leicestershire Schools & Colleges

Recruitment Information

Routes into Teaching

1. The traditional routes into the teaching profession are:

(a) A 3 or 4 year full-time course which gives you a degree BA or BSc with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). These courses are run by colleges who offer Initial Teacher Training (ITT). These courses are for both Primary and Secondary teachers depending on the provider. This route is currently funded in the same way as any other degree course. This course is suitable if you do not already possess a degree or equivalent qualification. Details of providers and the application process can be found at www.gttr.ac.uk.

(b) A 1 year PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) course, carrying with it QTS. You must have a degree, normally in a subject area taught in schools. This route can be undertaken on a full or part time basis, and the majority of the year is spent in schools on teaching practice. You can train as a Primary or Secondary teacher on this route. These courses are run by colleges offering ITT. Tuition for a PGCE course is free and also brings with it a grant of £6,000. The local providers are as follows:

Local Provider	Web Address
University of Leicester (Primary and Secondary)	http://www.le.ac.uk/education
De Montfort University (Primary and Secondary)	http://www.dmu.ac.uk/Subjects/Db/?index=qua&list=PGCE
Nottingham Trent University (Primary and Secondary)	http://www.education.ntu.ac.uk/courses/index.html
University of Nottingham (Secondary)	http://www.nottingham.ac.uk
Loughborough (Secondary Technolgy or Science or PE only)	http://www.lboro.ac.uk/prospectus/pg/taught/ssh/pgce.htm
Bishop Grosseteste, Lincoln (Primary and Secondary)	http://www.bgc.ac.uk/?_id=641&page=0 http://www.bgc.ac.uk/?_id=642&page=0
Open University	http://www.open.ac.uk/education-and-languages/courses_and_qualifications/index.php

For contact information on all ITT Providers in the East Midlands and information on how to apply please visit www.gttr.ac.uk

2. If these routes are not suitable for you there are now other routes available:

(a)The Employment-based route. This route is the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP). You can do the programme full-time over 1 year, or part-time. You are employed by a school as an Unqualified Teacher during your training. For further details about this route and particularly for providers (DRB's) in your area please visit www.tda.gov.uk/partners.recruiting/ebr.

(b)School-Centred initial teacher training (SCITT) is a postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) programme based in and run by schools. All SCITT courses lead to QTS and many, not all, award the Post Graduate Certificate in Education. Schools and colleges of all kinds can be involved so if you would like to train in a primary, secondary or middle school, you may be able to find a school to train in. For information on the the Leicester and Leicestershire SCITT please visit www.leics-scitt.co.uk . Information on the two SCITT Centres operating in the area (Nottingham and Leicester) can be found at www.gttr.ac.uk.

(c)Flexible PGCE with QTS route. This route is offered by a range of ITT providers. It usually involves some distance learning and you build up your teaching experience at a pace which suits your individual circumstances, so you can keep your current job whist you are training. However, you will need to be flexible enough to do block teaching practices at some stage of your training. For a list of local providers please visit www.gttr.ac.uk and / or www.tda.gov.uk.

All entrants to teacher training must satisfy certain criteria, such as subject knowledge and suitability to the profession. There are booster courses run locally to top up subject knowledge; for further information please visit www.tda.gov.uk/skbc.

In addition there are certain statutory requirements for teacher training that you must have :

English & Maths GCSE Grade C or above, or a recognised equivalent qualification;
Science GCSE Grade C or above, or a recognised equivalent qualification (if you were born after 1979). This applies to Primary Teacher Training only.

As explored above, all trainee teachers have to have obtained a DEGREE or equivalent. Depending on the route you choose, you can take a course which will give you a degree as part of your training. This route involves a three or four year full time course at a college, leading to BA or BSc with QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). If you have a degree you may be able to do a 1 year training route to gain QTS (as long as your degree is relevant to the subject you want to specialise in) through the Graduate Teacher Programme or PGCE (described earlier in this e-mail). If you do NOT have a degree and can not do a full-time College-based course, there are increasing opportunities for you to study a degree part-time (visit www.open.ac.uk or www.ucas.ac.uk).

You may also find the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) Website (www.tda.gov.uk) a useful resource. You may also want to register your interest with the TDA by ringing 0845 6000 991.