| frank – I am interested in teaching secondary Maths. Currently I am working as a freelance accountant so wondering who you would suggest as a referee? |
| Teaching consultant – You are looking for someone who can comment in detail on your academic ability and suitability for teaching. If you left university within the last 5 years an academic reference from a tutor is normally expected otherwise an employer or ex-employer for example would be possible. The frequently asked questions section of the gttr website has more detailed guidelines on what to request from your referee. |
| Lucielu – I am in my final year at University and want to apply for Secondary, to teach Science. Am I too late to apply? |
| Teaching consultant – No it is not too late. There are still vacancies available for secondary science and course providers will welcome your applicattion. Check out the current PGCE and SCITT vacanices on the GTTR website http://www.gttr.ac.uk |
| claire – I have an interview tomorrow for BEd bit nervous, have you got any tips on things to read up on and the questions that will likely be asked |
| Teaching consultant – Well done for securing an interview. Likely topics: You will be asked about why you have chosen teaching as a career and about how you decided that and the age range/subject you are applying for. You will also be asked about your relevant subject knowledge that you have determined from your previous studies and experience. Your current understandings of current education and the issues in your chosen area will also be explored. Try to illustrate your answers with examples from any times you have been working with children, particularly strong are examples from school observation of childrens learning. Our interactive interview would be a useful preparation see http://www.teach.gov.uk/interactiveinterview Good Luck. |
| frank – How much school experience would I need? I have only done a week so far – and a month teaching abroad a long time ago. |
| Teaching consultant – That sounds very good for a secondary maths application so do proceed with your application basing your personal statement on those experiences. |
| applicant – Hi, I will be doing an MA in English Literature (specialising in children's poetry) in Sept 2008. After my MA, I am hoping to apply to become a Primary teacher, and just have a couple of questions. Firstly, I have little experience. I will be attending a three day primary taster course and have also spent a few hours tutoring under achieving secondary school pupils. Is it still possible to apply for this route? Secondly, due to the fact that my MA costs a lot of money, I need to be earning money quite soon after – would the GTP route be applicable to me? I understand it is for people with lots of experience, but would the fact that I have an MA, make an exception? |
| Teaching consultant – Successful applications for primary teaching usually have at least 2 weeks observation in primary schools.More may be needed by some course providers. All routes for primary are competitive so making sure you check out your chosen providers requirements now will enable you to programme this into your time whilst studying for your MA. Look out for the Students Associates programme whilst you are studying to get an indepth appreciation of working in schools See http://www.tda.gov.uk/sas for details |
| rwilliams17 – I have made a late application for Primary and am waiting to hear about its success, how long on average does it take a education provider to respond? |
| Teaching consultant – GTTR will forward your application to your first chosen course with vacancies. They will then consider it within 20 working days to decide whether to interview you. GTTR will provide you with a tracking password so that you can Track the progress of your application online. |
| moses – I am currently doing my MSc International Business in Salford Business School but will like to teach one of the priority subjects preferably Religious knowledge or Maths in a secondary school. can you advise me if it is possible considering my background in Business |
| Teaching consultant – Your postgraduate teaching training is usually based on subject content within your degree so maths would definitely be an option if your degree and MSc have maths within it. Unpick your degree to determine the content relevant to maths and then talk to your chosen course providers to see if you have enough maths for their course. This does vary from provider to provider so do check with more than one. If you do not have enough maths for their one year course but they feel you have potential to be a good teacher they can refer you to a subject knowledge booster course or a 6month enhancement course to gain the extra maths before joining their course. |
| FEH – I am hopefully going to Quebec, Canada to teach English in Secondary schools with the Bristish Council but would like to apply for teaching for the following year can I start that process before I leave? Also have a lot of experience working with young people in more informal setting will this experience teaching abroad be sufficient or will I need to look at doing some experience in British schools? |
| Teaching consultant – There is no official deferrment system. If you will be abroad during the year of application you should contact your chosen course providers to see if they will interview you before you leave, keep it on file and then link it with your formal application in the appropriate year. Your experience may be enough to secure a place but secondary English is a popular course so topping up your informal experience with a couple of days in a mainstream school observing teaching of English would be a worthwhile enhancement to your application. |
| Lou – Would you say that it would be better to have a manager at work write my reference or someone I know personally who is a teacher |
| Teaching consultant – If you left university in the last 5 years then an academic reference from your university would normally be expected. Otherwise your manager at work will be able to comment on your skills in the workplace, preferable with reference to your suitability for teaching so would be a good choice. |
| jbhayat – hiya, i want to apply but im not sure how to begin my personal statement |
| Teaching consultant – Your personal statement should concentrate on your skills, experience and enthusiasm for teaching young people and teaching your subject. Include examples of when and how your skills (previous work and or studies) would be relevant to working in the classroom. Include evidence of your social and communication skills and make sure it is clear and accurate. The application assistant on http://www.teach.gov.uk/applicationassistant is designed to give you in depth help with your personal statement. |
| **Maria182** – I’m doing an Access to Teaching course this September to enable me to do a Primary Education degree with QTS. I was just a bit confused about the different courses as there seems to be a lot of choice. Is there a huge difference between a Bed degree and a BA? I don’t particularly want to specialise too much in one subject, is this related in the degree type? I would also prefer to do a 3 year course rather than 4 as I am now considered a mature student! Thanks. |
| Teaching consultant – All are good routes to QTS (Qualified teacher status). BA with QTS and BSc with QTS courses usually have a strong single subject strand as well as training you for primary teaching with teaching practice etc. BEd degrees also include your teaching training and usually do not have as strong a one subject base as the other two. However, keeping an open mind on the name of the degree initially is a good idea so check out your local/chosen courses to find out their structure and then decide. |
| FEH – I'm actually looking at teaching Biology because my degree is in Marine Biology with French so will my TEFL teaching in Canada with observations of Canadian science lessons be enough or will I need to look at doing some experience in Britain? |
| Teaching consultant – Your application for science will be welcomed this is one of our priority subjects. As all your experience is in Canada your application would be enhanced by a couple of days observation in English/Welsh schools so you can relate your Canadian experience to how science is taught here although some course providers may offer you an interview based on the experience you have now. Check with your chosen ones to be sure. |
| 974 – what are the advantages to be qualified as a teacher through a GTP and through a pgce ? |
| Teaching consultant – Both routes lead to QTS which is the mandatory requirement for working in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales so both are good routes so choose the one which suits you and has places available when you apply. |
| maria – Would my teaching experience as an Italian tutor in adult education be taken into consideration when applying? I am also going to help out a French teacher in a secondary school two days a week after Easter. |
| Teaching consultant – Definitely, all experience of teaching and learning can be valuable on your application, it depends on how you relate this to your chosen course. Having arranged some time in school will also be an asset to your application. See the application assistant on how to incorporate it into your personal statement http://www.teach.gov.uk/applicationassistant |
| 974 – Do i need to contact the university I am applying for pgce ? Also i was in the seminar and they said to me i can teach spanish too as I have knowlegde in it . however should i find a University who hav courses French ( my native language) and spanish or only French ... Will we have a test for the language we want to teach ? |
| Teaching consultant – Contact your chosen universities if you have any questions about their course or your suitablity for it. Either a French only or French with Spanish course would be fine as you can teach other languages than those in your training once you are in school. Part of your interview will be in your target language(s) |
| thiru – how can I reapply for my PGCE course please |
| Teaching consultant – You can apply once each years application cycle through the GTTR. If you are unsuccessful at your initial choices then you can join the Extra and clearing processes through the GTTR to apply for more choices which still have vacancies. You can track your application on the GTTR website with the Track password supplied by them when you applied. |
| rwilliams17 – My second choice of course is a Geography Secondary PGCE although I studied Law at University, is there any advice you can give on students wishing to get extra experience in this area to strengthen an application. |
| Teaching consultant – On application to a postgraduate teacher training PGCE/SCITT or GTP you are usually expected to have some degree level knowledge of the subject you are applying for, so audit your background with Geography in mind. Then check your chosen provider for their requiements on this and contact them if you do not meet their minimum level to see if they offer any support to boost your knowledge or would consider a programme of self study to meet their requirements. |
| **Maria182** – I’ve written round to 6 local primary schools asking for work experience / voluntary teaching assistant placements to gain experience in a school setting. I have also followed them all up with a phone call to be told that someone would contact me, but I still haven’t heard anything after a few weeks. I know it takes time to get a CRB check and everything, so it’s slightly frustrating to have not got the ball rolling! Can you recommend anything to help me get experience in schools? |
| Teaching consultant – As you have had no sucess so far you could ask your chosen teacher training course providers if they could suggest some of their partner schools who may take you. In the meantime you could be looking at other ways to get involved with children of primary age so you can make a start on understanding how children learn. You could also start looking at the National Curriculum and then you will be able to make the absolute best of any school observation opportunities. |
| giovanni – can u tell me the different between pgce and SEST SCITT |
| Teaching consultant – PGCE and SCITT are both excellent routes to Qualified Teacher status (QTS) and you will spend a significant amount of time in schools working alongside teachers with any route to QTS. PGCE courses are led by universities who place you in schools for 24 weeks (out of 36) at least for secondary and 18 weeks (out of 38) for primary. SCITT courses are led by groups of schools and your placements during the year will be in their schools so you spend most of the year in school. |
| maria – Can I apply to one University only or do I have to choose more? If I don't get the University I want can I then apply to the Open University instead? |
| Teaching consultant – Yes you can apply for one university only if you want to. The GTTR system does allow you to choose up to 2 primary or 4 secondary courses initially. The Open university takes applications outside the GTTR system so you can apply to them directly at any time,. |
| kelly – Hi there. I was just wondering whether paid experience as a Teaching Assistant is more highly regarded than voluntary experience when applying for a PGCE Primary course? |
| Teaching consultant – Course providers are looking for what you have learnt about teaching and learning in your school placements and are happy if this is paid or voluntary. |
| mallarda4 – my problem is that there are far too much information what does the teacher does than assisting in compelling the forms I do not know where to start. |
| Teaching consultant – The GTTR online application form has a wealth of information to help you fill it in accurately. If you hover over the various parts of the form you will get help boxes displayed. If you would like detailed help to write your personal statement then check out our application assistant on http://www.teach.gov.uk/applicationassistant |
| SamB – I am considering the employment-based route to primary teaching. Should I apply for the job first or the university? |
| Teaching consultant – You need to check out the application process and application deadlines of your local GTP training provider. They are known as EBITTs. Some EBITTs require you to find a school to employ you as an unqualified teacher before applying for a training place others will interview you for a training place and then help place you in a school. So the first step is to check out your local EBITTs system. You can find their details on http://www.tda.gov.uk/ebrcontacts |
| mrsbridgewater – Apologies if this appears twice – connection went down :-( Can you point me in the right direction to find out what is involved from the school's point of view when providing a GTP placement? Have seen a position advertised in a local independent school that I'd love, I spent a couple of days in the school and from talking to the Head of Department I think they might be open to taking on a GTP person – but I'd like to enclose as much information as possible with my application as to what would be expected of the school, what support they'd get etc. etc. |
| Teaching consultant – If you undertake the GTP in an independent school they will have to cover all your salary and training costs but will get help with your assessment for QTS. You need to contact your local EBITT (training provider) which will work with you and your school. You need to find one which offers self-funded places. They are listed on http://www.tda.gov.uk/ebrcontacts. This site also has many documents with more information about the GTP scheme which you can download for you and your school |
| 974 – I am confused , some of the teachers i work with say its hard to find a job as a French teacher in London and in the uk and some other say me it is demanding . what is the true ? |
| Teaching consultant – Modern languages is a priority subject so there is a demand for teachers in this subject area. The performance profiles on http://www.tda.gov.uk/pprofiles show the percentages of students trained as language teachers who got jobs in teaching at the end of their training. TIL 0845 6000 991 can put you in touch with one of our language teaching advocates who are current serving teachers who can talk about their experience in the classroom. If you are a graduate career changer our Regional Careers advisors can offer you impartial careers advice. Call TIL 0845 6000 991 to arrange this. |
| Lucielu – My Science knowledge is good (I am predicted a 2:1) only thing is I am concerned that I don't know enough about what is actually taught. Is this something which will come up in an interview? and how can I find out more about what is taught? Thank you. |
| Teaching consultant – Getting into a classroom to observe teachers is the best way of getting the insights into the curriculum and how science is taught in todays classrooms. For graduate considering science teaching we have a range of experiences to help you get into the classroom; a 1 day Open School or 3 day taster course, call TIL 0845 6000 991 for a place on these. You can also request to talk to a teaching advocate about their experiences in the classroom. Checking out the curriculum on http://www.nc.uk.net and looking at text books in libraries/bookshops are good ways to expand your knowledge. |
| FEH – My mum is a biology teacher, if I was to top my experience in Canada up with shadowing teachers within her department would this be ok? or would it be preferable to look at doing this in another school? |
| Teaching consultant – What you learn about how children learn science and how teachers teach it is the important aspect so any school can be useful for this. |
| bestm80eva – Why should i start a career in teaching when present teachers seem so set against the system at present |
| Teaching consultant – Getting into schools and seeing teachers working with their students in the classroom is the best way to make up your mind if a career in teaching is for you. Contact a local school to arrange this. TIL 0845 6000 991 may also be able to referyou to one of our teaching advocates for you to ask them about their experiences in the classroom |
| KELLY123 – Are there any distance learning PGCE Primary courses that cover Devon? |
| Teaching consultant – The GTTR website has a course search where you can check for these on http://www.gttr.ac.uk ( Bath Spa looks like the nearest option.) |
