This Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (Post Compulsory Education) is a two year, part time course that covers the required LSIS standards for teachers within the post compulsory sector. It is an ideal course for teachers within further, adult and community education who hold a degree and who are looking to achieve Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) status.
You will develop the professional and practical skills required of a teacher working in post compulsory education. The post compulsory sector encompasses a wide range of organisations from general FE colleges to universities, prisons, businesses and the voluntary sector, providing a diverse choice of employment opportunities
The course adopts a submission based approach, making effective use of a submission proposal process, which enables you to contextualise the outcomes and ensures their relevance to your own professional practice. There are regular teaching observations and individual target setting will be used to ensure that you are you are making progress towards achieving the required professional standards.
The assessment strategy is outcomes-based. You will negotiate with your tutor, in consultation with your mentor, the evidence you will submit to address the specified unit outcomes. You have the opportunity to use a submission proposal or learning contract to confirm at the planning stage how you intend to meet the requirements. Your proposal/learning contract will be systematically scrutinised with you during a one-to-one tutorial, mapping the proposed actions and intended outcomes to the course learning outcomes and unit threshold criteria, to ensure that you are supported to satisfy both academic and professional requirements through your assessment activity.
Marking is on a pass/fail basis only.
This approach has been adopted for the following reasons;
The pass-fail marking is adopted as more appropriate for the negotiated, outcomes-based assessment regime. You will receive detailed feedback on your submissions both on the text itself and on the marksheet. The latter is in two parts; a feedback commentary on the work submitted, and a feedforward guide to how to make it even better for the next submission.
In some cases, particularly the Professional Practice Units, there are specific documentation requirements, such as the inclusion of teaching observation reports and excerpts from a professional reflective journal: these are set out in detail in the Handbook.
Timing of Assessments
There are submission deadlines for specific units in November, January, February, April and May, and a re-submission deadline in mid-August.
Work is then marked and moderated and samples sent to the external examiners, prior to the Exam Boards in June, and a re-sit Board in September.
Use will be made of formative assessment strategies throughout the course. This is a principle which we would expect you to adopt in your own teaching. You will be supported to become familiar with self- and peer-assessment approaches and to make effective use of feedback on both academic and practice-based aspects of the course. You will be encouraged to identify targets for your ongoing development using the Personal Development Planner to plan and monitor these with your tutor and mentor.
Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree at Honours level, or equivalent.
To apply for a place on a postgraduate course (MA/MSc/MBA) at the University of Bedfordshire you should have a good first degree and the required English language qualification
Find out more about specific entry requirements for your country
To apply for a postgraduate degree (MA/MSc/MBA/LLM) at the University of Bedfordshire you should have a good honours degree (or equivalent qualification) in an appropriate subject from a recognised university or HE institution.
We will also consider candidates with other relevant qualifications or appropriate work experience.
You also need to have the required English language qualification
Contact your country’s International Admissions Team for more information.
For this course you must:
If documentary evidence is not available, you will be asked to undertake a skills test.
You might in any case find it useful to do such a test if you have been out of formal education (in a student role, of course) for some time. You may have to undertake a similar test for QTLS, and we would not want anyone to be too distracted by having to work too hard to meet the grade for that.
This course is primarily `in-service (although a pre-service route is available at certain locations), which means that all participants will already be employed in a teaching role within the post compulsory sector. QTLS is now required of all new teachers in state-funded further education. It is available not only to new entrants to teaching, but also to established staff who do not hold a recognised teaching qualification, as a portal to promotion and advancement.
In 2011, the Secretary of State has implemented Recommendation 9 of the Wolf Report on vocational education, that QTLS should be accepted as equivalent to QTS as a qualification for teaching in the compulsory sector.
The Certificate in Education (PCE) is also accepted as the generic teaching qualification for non-graduate staff in other more specialised areas of post-compulsory education and training, including public services (including uniformed services and the military), business training, and adult education.
The course is framed by a commitment to help you to develop the characteristics of a University of Bedfordshire graduate teacher. You will be challenged to explore theories of teaching and learning and to examine the implications of such theories for your own development. In doing this you will refine, form and reform your own principles, perspectives and values in relation to professional teaching practice. On completion of the course you will have the appropriate attitude, knowledge, skills and understanding to meet the needs of the childrens and schools workforce agenda.
Whether you want to learn a new language, build networks, simply have the travel bug, or want to develop new skills and life experiences, our Go Global programme offers the opportunity to broaden your horizons, enhance your CV, and gain a truly international experience, all at the same time as studying towards your undergraduate degree. The Go Global programme is open to students from the UK and EU.
Travel to exciting destinations, including:
At the University of Bedfordshire we ensure that your experience here is cultural, as well as academic. That’s why a whole host of opportunities are opened up to you, providing you with that all important experience to make you stand out from the crowd when it comes to getting graduates jobs.
Our International students meanwhile, can make the most of trips to a series of exciting European destinations. From France and Belgium, to Holland and Germany, there are plenty of places to visit, network and broaden your knowledge of the global market place, by seeing and experiencing it for yourself, first-hand.
At the University of Bedfordshire we ensure that your experience here is cultural, as well as academic. That’s why a whole host of opportunities are opened up to you, providing you with that all important experience to make you stand out from the crowd when it comes to getting graduates jobs.
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2019/20 is £7,340 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan
The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees by no more than inflation.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2019/20 is £12,750 per year
The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees by no more than inflation.
Bedfordshire is a small county with lots to offer.
However you enjoy spending your free time, you won’t have to look far in Bedfordshire to find somewhere to relax, socialise or explore the great outdoors.
We are also conveniently located around 30 minutes by train from London, offering you the city experience with a homely feel.
We also have campuses in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes
UK students applying for most postgraduate degrees at the University of Bedfordshire should apply direct using our admissions form.
EU students applying for most postgraduate degrees at the University of Bedfordshire should apply direct using our admissions form
International students applying for a full-time postgraduate degree at the University of Bedfordshire should apply direct using our admissions form or via our representatives in your home country. You can also apply online
Find out more about how to apply as an International student