Certificate in Education (Further Education and Skills Sector) - Part-time

Entry Requirements

This course is open to new applicants to teaching who wish to work as teachers, trainers or tutors in adult, community, work-based and further education and the wider Further Education and Skills Sector, and who, at the time of starting the course, meet the following minimum entry requirements:

Admission to the Certificate in Education and Postgraduate Certificate in Education awards are open to applicants who are new to teaching (pre-service) and in-service teachers in the Further Education and Skills Sector who, at the point of entry meet the following entry requirements:

• 1. A minimum of a Level 3 qualification in all the specialist subjects they will be teaching¹
• 2. GCSE English at grade C/4 or above (or Ofqual approved equivalent)²
• 3. GCSE mathematics at grade C/4 or above (or Ofqual approved equivalent) ²
• 4. Where English is not the applicant’s first language: The ability to communicate fluently, accurately and effectively in professional spoken English. A current (IELTS 7.5 with no element lower than 7.0 (or equivalent) ³
• 5. A teaching contract or a voluntary placement across two institutions, which includes:
• A minimum of 150 hours of teaching practice⁴
• A minimum of 100 hours of non-teaching practice⁴
• 6. A named subject specific mentor in the primary placement location
• 7. A named pastoral mentor
• 8. Completion of a satisfactory course interview⁵
• 9. Completion of a satisfactory subject interview⁵
• 10. Provide confirmation of an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applicants wanting to teach English and applicants wanting to teach mathematics (without a mathematics ’A’ Level/degree) are required to successfully complete an additional entry assessment to demonstrate their content knowledge and skills. This may impact on the acquisition of a suitable teaching practice placement and therefore additional time must be factored in for this.

¹ Specialist subject: Where the subject is regarded as SEND, the applicant must have a L3 SEND qualification.

² Equivalent qualifications must be named by the Society for Education and Training as suitable for entry to QTLS (see Approved maths and English qualifications | Society for Education and Training (etfoundation.co.uk )

³ IELTS certification date must be within two years of the point of application.

⁴ Teaching Hours The course is dependent upon trainee teachers being able to put into practice in their own classrooms the values, knowledge and professional skills they gain through their studies. To ensure purposeful integration and development of generic and subject pedagogical approaches, it is a requirement of the course that trainees are employed (in-service) or attend placement (pre-service) on a weekly basis throughout the duration of the course.

Whilst the 150 hours of teaching practice and 100 hours of non-teaching practice are the national requirement, in cases where the quality, quantity or breadth of the teaching is not sufficient to meet the requirements of the course, it may be necessary to arrange for trainees to carry out additional teaching. Teaching practice must be carried out predominantly with groups of ten or more learners, although some small group teaching may be undertaken.

• Effective teaching practice experience should ideally include:
• Different teaching practice locations/settings/contexts
• Teaching across more than one level
• Teaching a diverse range of learners
• Experience across a wide range of non-teaching activity

⁵ Applicants will not source their own subject specific mentors. The college that you are applying to will work to do this and discuss with you their progress in securing a subject specialist mentor. You may not enrol to the course if a subject specialist mentor has not been allocated

⁶ Applicants also need to demonstrate at interview and through references that they have the potential to become a good teacher. Where applicants have non-standard qualifications, please contact the University ITE team to enquire about equivalences.

Applicants for placements in vocational subjects will need to demonstrate significant industrial/employment experience.

Those seeking to teach academic subjects will generally be expected to be qualified to degree level.

Applicants are required to show original qualification certificates and proof of ID.

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