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Choosing the right course

Choosing your course

So, you want to be a teacher. Good choice, teaching can be one of the best jobs in the world. But before you get there, to become a fully qualified teacher in state-maintained schools in England and Wales, you’re going to have to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

This will almost certainly mean completing a programme of initial teacher training (ITT).

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Initial teacher training combines theoretical learning with at least 18 weeks of practical teaching on placements in schools.
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Initial teacher training combines theoretical learning with at least 18 weeks of practical teaching on placements in schools. If attained, this leads to the achievement of QTS – and you’re in. ITT comes in all shapes and sizes, some of which may be more suitable to you than others, depending on your qualifications, experience, preferences or personal circumstances. Not all institutions offer all these options.

The options

Below is a quick summary of the options that will be available to you. All lead to QTS, which you’ll need to teach in state-maintained schools. 

Undergraduate courses

  • BEd (Bachelor of education): an honours degree course in education combined with other subject studies. 
  • BA/BSc with QTS (Bachelor of arts/science with qualified teacher status): an honours degree in a subject other than education that incorporates teacher training.      

Postgraduate courses/programmes

  • PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate of Education): initial teacher training for graduates. 
  • SCITT (School centred initial teacher training): initial teacher training programmes for graduates, based in and run by schools in partnership with higher education institutions. In many cases, the institution will also grant a PGCE as well.
  • Teach First: a  programme of teacher training for ‘high-flying’ graduates comprising of school placements, leadership development and commercial work experience.     

Employment based programmes

  • GTP (Graduate Teacher Programme): an intensive programme allowing graduates to train in a school while earning a salary as an unqualified teacher. 
  • RTP (Registered Teacher Programme):  a programme allowing people with two years' higher education, or equivalent, to complete their degree and train to teach at the same time, all while working in a school.      

Assessment only routes

  • QTS only: this is an option for teachers with UK experience but no QTS - including those who have spent time in the independent and further education sectors. It is not, strictly speaking, a course as it is assessment-only and requires no additional training.      

Finding the right ITT provider

The Training and Development Agency (TDA) has a helpful link to aid you in the search for the right ITT provider for you. The website leads you to an extensive database of information that allows you to search for and compare universities, colleges and schools that meet your requirements. 

It offers a database of performance profiles on providers which contains yearly data on all the universities, colleges or school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) providers in England. Each ITT providers' record includes its contact details, the courses it offers, the characteristics of its trainees and details of their qualifications on entry to the course. 

These records also provide information, based on Ofsted inspection evidence, about the quality of providers' ITT courses, the proportion of their trainees gaining QTS on completion of their training, and how many enter a teaching job within six months of successfully completing the course. 

In addition to enabling you to review and compare the detailed characteristics of ITT providers, the Performance Profiles section of the website website also allows you to search for a provider or group of providers according to a range of different criteria, including:

  • location
  • subject
  • age group
  • provider
  • TDA quality category
  • training route.       

By using these criteria individually or together, you can generate a shortlist of ITT providers that match your preferences. You can then compare providers using the reports provided and narrow down your options further still. 

If you want to train as a teacher in Wales

The TDA Performance Profiles cover ITT providers in England only. For information about providers of initial teacher training in Wales:

 Download ATL's free publication for students, Into the classroom, for further advice on how to get the most out of your studies.    

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