Course summary

The Primary PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) has been designed to provide you with teaching experience across the 3-11 age range, giving you the ability to teach throughout the progression steps within the current primary curriculum. The programme is offered through the Swansea University Schools’ Partnership (SUSP); a collaborative teacher education network that brings together Swansea University, its partner schools, and other education providers. We draw on this expertise to blend academic excellence with hands-on experience, in order to prepare you to earn QTS. We also work closely with our partner schools to tailor placements to your needs, prioritising your wellbeing through mentor support, clinics, and themed Practice and Theory (PaT) Days, focused on areas such as diversity, sustainability, and outdoor learning. The programme comprises 60 days of university input and 120 days of school placement across two school settings. School and university staff will work together to support you, as a student teacher, to progress toward successful completion of the course and achieving QTS. Throughout the degree, you will create an electronic portfolio of evidence, known as the Professional Learning Passport (PLP), referencing your progression and ability against each of the Professional Teaching and Leadership Standards. Successful evidence of all Standards being met, together with successful completion of Level 7 assessments, will lead to a recommendation being made to the Education Workforce Council (EWC) that you be awarded QTS. You will only be able to practice as a teacher after your QTS has been confirmed by the EWC. This programme is unique in its offering, as after experiencing teaching placements across the primary age phase, you can choose to specialise in Additional Learning Needs (ALN) or All-Age (3-18) contexts, further widening your knowledge and experience. The PGCE Primary programme at Swansea University is building a reputation for excellence in teacher education through strong formative assessment, learner choice, underpinning research and innovative practices, including observation classrooms, the use of Hydra (our immersive simulation suite) to role play real-life scenarios in an entirely safe learning environment, and enriching experiences like Technocamps and learning British Sign Language (BSL). Rated highly in the Estyn inspection report (2024), our PGCE Primary programme is praised for its ‘careful blending of theory and practice,’ ‘strong support for student wellbeing,’ and its ‘research-informed, reflective approach.’ The inspectors found that ‘student teachers feel respected and supported.’ In addition to this, the SUSP will provide you with high-quality, practitioner and research-led Initial Teacher Education (ITE), to deliver on its vision of developing individuals like you into well-informed, reflective practitioners, who can contribute significantly to the quality of Welsh education. This rigorous programme will challenge you academically and professionally. The degree is structured to provide you with the necessary opportunities to address all of the Professional Standards for Teaching and Leadership, through rich learning experiences that are centred around developing your professional proficiency. All aspects of the course have been developed collaboratively by the SUSP and will be delivered, quality assured and reviewed in partnership, to consolidate this collaboration throughout the year.