Different Qualification Outcomes

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

This is a professional qualification (just like being a chartered accountant or surveyor) awarded by the Teaching Regulation Agency. QTS is the the only qualification that you need to be able to teach at a school in England and almost by definition all teacher training programmes include QTS. 

To get QTS your teaching is judged against The Teachers' Standards. The Teachers' Standards are set out on a single page, easy to Google and worth looking at before interview! 

Professional qualifications are not generally recognised abroad because they properly relate to the standards set by the professional body in a particular country.

Post Graduate Certificate of Education with Masters level credits PGCE(M)

This is an additional academic qualification which is also included in all our primary courses. This requires time studying outside the classroom but on courses that include the PGCE, you still get at least 24 weeks in at least two schools to give you practical classroom experience. The PGCE(M) component of our programmes is awarded to you by the university associated with our course.  You do not need PGCE to teach in England, but academic qualifications are commonly recognised in other countries. 

When a course includes a PGCE, effectively the professional skills that you need for QTS are taught in an academic manner.  You may learn about different research relating to a topic such as behaviour management, you would be encouraged to reflect on these and then also to put them into practice in a classroom setting.

What is a Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship PGTA

This is a salaried course with 20% off the job training.  You cannot teach with PGTA on its own. All our teaching apprenticeship programmes therefore additionally include QTS or  PGCE(M)QTS.

In addition to meeting the requirements for those qualifications, you must also be assessed for the apprenticeship qualification (PGTA), normally in term 4.