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Teaching Level 6 Apprenticeship (QTS) PGCE

Start date

  • Level(s) of Study: Postgraduate taught
  • Start Date(s): August/September 2024
  • Duration: 16 months full-time
  • Study Mode(s): Full-time
  • Campus: Clifton Campus
  • Entry Requirements:
    More information
Information for 2024/25

Introduction:

This apprenticeship is intended for teaching staff who are employed by a primary or a secondary school and already have a degree, but do not yet have a teaching qualification or Qualified Teacher Status and wish to attain this.

The apprentice’s employer will work with us to set up and support the apprenticeship place. The employer will be responsible for ensuring that there is a qualified teacher at their school who will act as the apprentice’s mentor, and for ensuring that the apprentice can be released from their employment duties for a suitable proportion of their working week (usually one day a week).

The apprentice will need to be employed full time as an unqualified teacher for a minimum of 30 hours per week and for a minimum of 16 months from the start of the apprenticeship. We will need to check that the apprentice will have sufficient responsibility for sizeable classes of students during their apprenticeship year, teaching an age-appropriate curriculum.

An apprentice’s pay at all times must be in line with the minimum wage or above and the employer’s pay policy (noting that the employer may be a single academy or a multi-academy trust, or a local authority):

  • if the employer is an academy trust, the salary must be in line with what is paid to unqualified teachers;
  • if the employer is a local authority, the salary must be between the minimum and maximum of the unqualified teacher pay range.’

Course accreditation

We are accredited by the UK Government's Department for Education as a provider of initial teacher-training courses. Successful completion of the course leads to recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), enabling you to commence a career in teaching as an Early Career Teacher (ECT) and then to complete your induction period.

  • DfE logo

What you’ll study

This course is a flexible approach to teacher training. The majority of your time will be spent in your employing school, training in the classroom and supported by experienced teachers  and mentors. You will also spend time studying at the University and there will be a second placement in another school that takes place after Christmas for approx. 6 weeks. There may also be an induction week pre-Christmas at this second school.

At the University you will study for the same award as other postgraduate teacher trainees except that the delivery will have more emphasis on being trained within a school environment and will involve more staff from schools.

Successful apprentices will achieve a PGCE qualification from NTU, be awarded Qualified Teacher Status, and be certified as having completed the Level 6 Teacher Apprenticeship.

You will be a registered student with NTU and your qualification will be an NTU award. This means that NTU has responsibility for the quality of your training and you will benefit from the combined expertise of the University and lead placement school. The exact form of the delivery of the year will depend on the school to which you apply.

  • Learning to be a teacher (60 credits)
  • Learning to teach (20 credits)
  • Learning to teach a subject (40 credits)
  • Learning to be a teacher (60 credits)
  • Learning to teach (20 credits)
  • Learning to teach a subject 1 & 2 (2 x 20 credits)

Completing your Apprenticeship

To achieve the apprenticeship, all apprentices must complete an End-Point Assessment (EPA). The EPA is an independent assessment that ascertains whether an apprentice is competent in their occupation.

Gateway

Gateway is the period of time between the end of the off-the-job training (practical period) and the beginning of the assessment period when EPA will take place.

At Gateway, the apprentice, employer and training provider will review the apprentice’s knowledge, skills and behaviours to determine whether they are ready to take their EPA. This is normally done at a Gateway review meeting which takes place near the end of the apprenticeship. At this meeting, all three parties will check that the mandatory aspects of the apprenticeship have been completed and that the apprentice is ready to take their final assessment(s).

Apprentices must meet the Gateway requirement set out in the assessment plan before taking their EPA.

End-Point Assessment

This apprenticeship is non-integrated. This means that the end-point assessment is administered and assessed by an external organisation. For this apprenticeship standard there are twenty six End-Point Assessment Organisations (EPAO), the preferred EPAO is University of Gloucestershire but employers may choose to select an alternative.

Details of the assessment elements can be found in the assessment plan.

There are two elements to this end-point assessment:

  1. Lesson observation
  2. Professional discussion

Upon successful completion, apprentices will be confirmed to be a competent and qualified teacher.

How you’re taught

Through lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, and independent study, apprentices are engaged in studying the theory and practice of learning and teaching. At the same time, supported by our professional tutors and colleagues in the apprentice’s workplace, apprentices develop their professional practice alongside their study. The course provides access to our online course materials, PebblePad eportfolio tool, libraries, and support services, with an enriched professional practice experience that guides the development of each individual against the national Teachers’ Standards.

What will my timetable look like?

The precise pattern varies depending on the phase of education in which the individual is training. Broadly, it consists of one day per week at the university, and four days per week in placement at the employing school, with a full university week in early September.

How many days will I spend at the University?

The precise pattern varies depending on the phase of education in which the individual is training. Typically, an apprentice will spend a total of 25 days each year attending at the university.

At the very start of the course there will be a need for the apprentice to attend University full time for a 1 or 2 week induction.  After that time, University attendance will just usually be one day a week.

‘Off the job’ Training requirements and apprentice workload

A full-time apprentice will need to spend at least six hours per week of their employed time engaged in off the job training. This training cannot take place in the apprentice’s own spare time, it will need to be during their paid hours. Part of this off the job training will be fulfilled by attending University.

There will also be a second placement in another school that takes place after Christmas for approx. 6 weeks, during which the apprentice will not be able to work at the employing school but will still have to be paid by them. There may also be an induction week pre-Christmas at this second school.

When planning for a postgraduate trainee teacher’s teaching workload, we usually suggest a gradual build-up of up to 40% of a teacher's responsibility by Christmas, up to 60% by Easter and then up to 80% by the end of the course. We recognise that an apprentice might be more experienced than a beginning trainee and so these loads can be adjusted after a conversation with the course teams, but the apprentice will still need time for their academic work and so cannot take on a full-time member of staff’s usual classroom responsibilities.

Staff Profiles

Paul Waring-Thomas - Principal Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Paul Waring-Thomas is a Principal Lecturer in Nottingham Institute of Education in the School of Social Sciences.

How you’re assessed

A combination of teaching observations, a portfolio of evidence of professional development, practitioner enquiry, assignments, and presentations. As required by the national standard, the End-Point Assessment is founded on a teaching observation followed by a professional dialogue with an expert panel consisting of an external assessor, a tutor from the university, and a representative from the employer of the apprentice.

Campus and facilities

Entry requirements

The prospective Primary Apprentice must meet the standard entry requirements for all ITT courses, as set out by the DfE;

  • This includes a UK degree or equivalent
  • It also includes GCSE English, Mathematics and Science at minimum grade 4 or equivalent. Applicants with pending qualifications will be considered, but the qualification must be attained prior to enrolment. GCSE English Literature does not meet the requirement, and anyone with English Literature but not English Language will need to undertake an English GCSE equivalency test. Anyone who is unable to provide the required GCSE certificate will need to complete a relevant equivalency test prior to enrolment.

The prospective Secondary Apprentice must meet the standard entry requirements for all ITT courses, as set out by the DfE;

  • This includes a UK honours degree or equivalent
  • It also includes GCSE English and Mathematics at minimum grade 4 or equivalent. Applicants with pending qualifications will be considered, but the qualification must be attained prior to enrolment. GCSE English Literature does not meet the requirement, and anyone with English Literature but not English Language will need to undertake an English equivalency test. Anyone who is unable to provide the required GCSE certificate will need to complete a relevant equivalency test prior to enrolment.

We will accept equivalency tests in whatever GCSE may be missing in order to admit the applicant to the course. However, if completing an equivalency test, the applicant will also need to have completed a Functional Skills qualification in this same subject in order to qualify for entry to the apprenticeship's End Point Assessment and complete the apprenticeship . This is a regulation determined by the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education. We have a Functional Skills provider with whom applicants can undertake this qualification if necessary, and they do so in parallel with their PGCE study. To reiterate: this means that an individual without the necessary English and / or maths GCSE(s) will need to undertake equivalency tests in order to get onto the course, and then Functional Skills qualifications while on the course in order to be able to complete the apprenticeship. There is no additional cost to the individual, NTU provides the Functional Skills course without charge.

Getting in touch

If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form

Unfortunately English apprenticeships are not available for EU or international students.

Fees and funding

To undertake an apprenticeship you must be employed - as such, your employer will pay your tuition fees.

If you or your employer have any questions regarding the fees and funding available for this apprenticeship, please see our Apprenticeships pages, contact our Apprenticeships team at apprenticeships@ntu.ac.uk, or call +44 (0)115 848 2589.

Unfortunately English apprenticeships are not available for EU or international students.

How to apply

You can apply for postgraduate teacher training courses at https://www.gov.uk/find-postgraduate-teacher-training-courses, although a teacher apprenticeship place needs to have been established with the employer in the first instance.

Get in touch with our Apprenticeship team at: Apprenticeships@ntu.ac.uk