Who is it for?
Completion of this qualification will enable successful students to apply for the professional status of Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS), with the Society for Education and Training.
Education, Training and Skills (Certificate / Professional Graduate Diploma)
- Course Type: Professional Certificate/Diploma
- Institution Code: P56
What can this course lead to?
The Level 5 Certificate in Education (CertEd) and the Level 6 Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) offer education, training, and development to those who are practising teachers in the education, training, and skills sector, such as further education colleges, private sector training providers, and offender education.
These qualifications provide a route into teaching in the training and skills sector for both non-graduates and graduates, leading to a robust teaching qualification that is recognised in the sector. The programme develops participants’ knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as teachers’ wider professional engagement in the sector.
The programme offers a challenging, supportive, and rewarding experience to promote informed, reflective, and effective teaching and professional development.
The CertEd and PGDE offer three specialist routes for students wishing to specialise in Vocational, Academic, or SEND delivery in the sector.
What is covered?
Year One:
Teaching my Subject
This module will equip you with initial and essential skills to prepare yourself for initial teaching practice in your subject. During this module, you will be introduced to the theories and principles of teaching, learning, and assessment relevant to vocational, academic, and SEND teaching. You will be encouraged to make connections between theory and practice. This module serves as an introduction to teaching practice, designed to prepare you to promote inclusive attitudes and values within your learning environments and the content you prepare and teach. The module focuses on the skills needed to enable trainee teachers, tutors, or trainers to succeed in the education and training sector. The module content introduces the skills and knowledge required for everyday teaching and learning in your subject area, including:
- The roles, responsibilities, and boundaries of the teacher
- The context of the education sectors
- Legislation, regulations, policy, and procedure
- Inclusive teaching and learning strategies
- Equality of opportunity
- Effective planning to mitigate factors influencing learning
Learners and Learning
This module explores “Who are my learners?” and examines the breadth of FE learners and their journeys into FE. It is based on the idea that teachers who understand learners’ backgrounds are better equipped to adapt teaching to their needs. Additionally, as FE is a broad sector, this module aims to alert trainees to the scope of potential roles in FE. This module is designed to develop your skills within your professional context to design, plan, and assess learning, based on principles and theories of assessment, including:
- Principles of assessment
- Enabling learning through assessment
- Planning to meet the needs of learners
- Understanding inclusive learning and teaching, and barriers to achievement
Teachers and Teaching
This module builds on ‘Learners and Learning’. The progressive rationale is that understanding “Who are my learners?” informs how they learn, which, in turn, influences “How do I choose to teach?”
This module will develop your sense of responsibility for making decisions about what takes place in the classroom or workshop. You will explore psychological theories surrounding learning, developing an appreciation for the parameters of human learning. You are expected to become familiar with established theories (e.g. Piaget, Vygotsky, Skinner/Watson, Guilford) and relevant critiques. Similarly, you will explore contemporary pedagogy and engage with current research in the field (e.g. Thomas, O’Leary, Hattie).
You will assess the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, recognising that none is a formula, and all have nuances.
Professional Practice 1 in Post-16 and Further Education
This module focuses on supporting you to develop and demonstrate the skills required to teach effectively in the Further Education and Skills (FES) sector. You will complete tasks and engage in opportunities that contribute to developing the required portfolio, as outlined by the Education and Training Foundation. Module content and approaches will reflect the cohort's and sector's emerging needs.
You will regularly reflect upon and track the progress of your professional practice and digital literacy skills, drawing upon planned experiences, feedback, theory, and current research covered in Modules 1–5. Through reflection, you will develop focused actions and creative solutions to enhance your professional practice and improve the learner experience.
The module develops your ability to make judgements on the suitability of teaching, learning, and assessment strategies, and to identify and respond to learners' needs. You will gain knowledge to safeguard learners’ well-being, promote inclusion, and encourage positive student behaviour and attitudes.
You will engage in diverse experiences to broaden your understanding of the sector and the wider roles of a teacher. These include practising various delivery methods, such as face-to-face, blended, synchronous online, asynchronous online, and hybrid delivery.
Your learning will be captured in a Professional Practice Portfolio and a series of themed reflections. Support will be provided through regular meetings with a Subject Mentor and Personal Tutor. Summative assessment tasks reflect national professional requirements and must be passed alongside placement requirements, as specified by the Education and Training Foundation, to qualify as a teacher.
Year Two:
Responsive Teaching
This module positions the teacher as an agent of change, fostering resilience and self-efficacy in learners. It emphasises understanding the holistic nature of learners’ needs to promote attributes such as confidence, autonomy, and long-term employability. Inclusivity and differentiated approaches are central to becoming a responsive teacher and require a foundational understanding of how people learn.
Building on previous modules, this module further develops your understanding of established and emerging theories and models of teaching and learning. You will evaluate factors affecting effective learning and potential barriers, both internal and external.
The module explores strategies to challenge and mitigate barriers to learning in daily practice, including behaviour management and safeguarding. It reinforces applying theoretical knowledge to responsive teaching, learning, and assessment.
Effective Digital and Online Pedagogies
This module examines your digital skills, the range of EdTech available, and managing digital delivery, including creating synchronous and asynchronous learning materials. It introduces key approaches and theories related to online teaching and learning.
You will critically engage with principles of online pedagogy in theory and practice, studying recent work by academics such as Diana Laurillard and Richard Mayer. You will then apply these frameworks in practice.
This holistic approach ensures that, by the end of the module, you will have developed competence in digital skills and educational technology suited to your practice.
Professional Practice 2
This module complements and builds upon the first-year Professional Practice module.
You will reflect upon and track the progress of your professional practice and digital literacy skills, drawing upon planned experiences, feedback, theory, and current research. Through regular reflection, you will develop focused actions and creative solutions to improve your professional practice and the learner experience.
The module enhances your ability to make informed judgements on teaching, learning, and assessment strategies, and to address learners’ needs. You will develop the knowledge to safeguard learners’ well-being, promote inclusion, and encourage positive behaviour and attitudes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You must meet the following entry requirements:
Applicants are required to have access to a minimum of 150 hours teaching over two years with no fewer than 75 hours in one year.
Recognised Level 2 qualification in Mathematics and English
For the Certificate, you will have a minimum of a Level 3 qualification (e.g. A-level / BTEC) in the subject(s) that you intend to teach.
For the Professional Graduate Diploma, you must hold a first degree.
An enhanced DBS check is required.
EU STUDENTS AND OVERSEAS QUALIFICATIONS
We can accept a wide range of overseas qualifications and use UK NARIC to compare qualifications. For advice about overseas qualification conversion call the Admissions Office on 01733 214466 or email admissions@ucp.ac.uk.
UCAS TARIFF
To find out more about UCAS tariff points and how they work, visit ucas.com/tariff-calculator.
We accept a wide range of qualifications such as A-levels (you must have grades for at least two A-levels), BTEC, Cambridge Technicals, International Baccalaureate (IB), NVQ Level 3, Access to Higher Education and Scottish Advanced Highers.
The tariff points for qualifications can be added and combined together (e.g. A-levels plus BTECs).
The UCAS points for A-level General Studies, AS-levels and the EQP (Extended Project Qualification) are accepted when combined with other full qualifications.
ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR CERTIFICATED LEARNING (APCL) FOR ENTRY
APCL relates to learning completed through an earlier course of study. If you have previously completed a course which is relevant to your proposed course you should make this clear when you apply. For this to be eligible for consideration you must be able to provide certification, which shows your success in a final assessment for that course. Learning must be completed in the last five years or further evidence of updating will be required. Simple participation in a course or an attendance certificate is not sufficient.
EXEMPTIONS BASED ON ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR LEARNING (APL)
We offer students flexibility in their studies, by recognising learning they may have completed elsewhere before they apply. The Accreditation of Prior Learning process ensures that we can take this into account when determining the modules you must study. It is important that you identify any relevant prior learning when you apply. If your previous study specifically relates to modules on the course you wish to undertake we may approve a reduced programme of study, thus shortening the time it takes to obtain your award. Where this relates to learning completed through an earlier course of study, this is called Prior Certificated Learning, and where learning has been achieved through relevant work or experience, this is referred to as Prior Experiential Learning. Claims must be approved before you commence a course.
EXEMPTIONS BASED ON ACCREDITATION OF PRIOR EXPERIENTIAL CERTIFICATED LEARNING (APEL)
It is important to understand that the APEL process does not award academic credit for experience alone, but for learning which can be shown to have been achieved through that experience. Students are required to prepare an individual case for the credit arising from their learning experiences. This normally means that a student receives support in the preparation of a portfolio, which evidences their claimed exemptions for entry. This portfolio of evidence is then submitted for assessment and the possible award of academic credit. Alternative methods of assessment of evidence may be available but needs to be discussed with the Admissions team or Course Leader.
When studying this course we will timetable your lectures into one evening a week over two semesters per year (see Duration and delivery for exact details). We are able to offer this convenient timetabling to our students as we are a smaller institution so we can timetable our staff and resources more efficiently.
Throughout the programme, modules are delivered concurrently to your teaching practice, allowing you to make robust connections between theory and practice and develop the habit of reflective evaluation. All modules re-enforce the concept of reflective practice as essential to effective teaching and learning, as well as the personal and professional development within your chosen specialist subject.
Each programme provides a route into teaching in the training and skills sector, and leads to a robust teaching qualification, which is recognised in the sector. The programmes develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of teaching, learning and assessment, and teachers’ wider, professional engagement in the sector. They offer a challenging, supportive and rewarding experience to promote informed, reflective and effective teaching and professional development.
The modules included in the course are designed to be pragmatic in content, and assist in strengthening pedagogical approaches for new and existing lecturing staff. The design of the course is authenticated by the ‘College of the Future’ and the Government ‘Skills for Jobs’ Whitepaper, both published in 2021, highlighting the need to develop a skilled Post 16 & FE workforce, operating as dual professionals within the sector. This course validates that increasing demand.
The programme is a pass/fail award. It is assessed through two means, teaching practice and assessed assignments.
The guiding principle of the assessment strategy is based on a combination of both formative and summative assessment. It seeks to enable the trainees to engage with and evaluate a range of professional, authentic assessment techniques. Each module carries one or two assessment components, utilising a range of assessment techniques. Assessment will typically include such tasks as case studies, reflective reports, individual presentations, peer reviews, action planning and evaluation of day-to-day teaching practice.
Teaching practice is integral to the successful completion of the programme. The programme assessment strategy requires that each trainee undergo ten teaching observations of their practice across the duration of the programme (the majority of which should be to a group of at least 10 learners).
There may be additional costs for this course which are not covered by the tuition fee.
Applicants are required to have access to a minimum of 150 hours teaching over two years with no fewer than 75 hours in one year.
The modules in the course link directly to teaching practice and provide you with the opportunity to develop your confidence and skills over the two-year period.
Course information
Ucas Code
N/A
Location
Stamford - Thursday 5pm - 8pmPeterborough - Monday 5pm - 8pm
Start Date
September
Fees
The tuition fees for part-time students will be £2,500 per year.
Duration
Part-time: 2 years (1 evening a week over two semesters per year)
Validated by
Bishop Grosseteste University
Tariff points
N/A
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enquiries@ucp.ac.uk
01733 214466
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