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Primary and Early Years Education PGCE with QTS

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    Overview

    This course is now full and closed to new applications.

    If you’ve got an undergraduate degree and aspire to become a primary school teacher for Foundation and Key Stage 1 pupils, then this course will help you on your way. The course focuses on developing the skills you need to teach children from ages three to seven and upon successful completion we’ll recommend Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

    Why Primary Education?

    • You’ll develop your knowledge of National Curriculum subjects in the primary curriculum with a focus on teaching and learning in the Early Years (Foundation Stage) and Key Stage 1 alongside hands-on classroom experience.
    • We know there’s no substitute for learning how to teach in the classroom environment, so a significant amount of your learning will take place in our partnership schools. You’ll benefit from being able to observe experienced teachers, gain practical hands-on experience and mentoring to help you develop into an outstanding and successful teacher. Your placements will be organised by our dedicated placements team alongside your academic tutors to ensure you get the experience you need.
    • Successful completion of your PGCE course prepares you to start your first teaching post within a primary school.
    • Our course is designed to prepare you to teach pupils in the 3-7 age range with opportunities to develop a comprehensive understanding of progression at Key Stage 2.

    Key Information

    Entry requirements

    • An Honours degree with a classification of 2:2 or above.
    • GCSE English Language, Maths and a Science at grade 4 or above (or grade C or above if awarded under the previous GCSE grading scheme) or equivalent.
    • If your first language is not English, you will need IELTS 7.0 overall, with no element less than 6.5.
    • If all or part of your qualifications are from outside the UK, we’ll need a UK ENIC statement of comparability.

    Other requirements:

    • You must demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively, and that you have the intellectual and academic potential to meet the required Teachers’ Standards by the end of the programme.
    • You should provide two references. Where applicants have current or recent experience working with children or young people, one of the referees should be a member of staff who can comment on their potential to train to teach.
    • Offers are subject to satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced disclosure checks and applicants must not previously have been barred from teaching or working with children. We also ask you to complete a health declaration to ensure that you have the health and physical capacity to teach.

    All conditions must be met by 31 August for entry in September in the year of application.

    The University of Huddersfield seeks and encourages applications from under-represented groups in order to widen participation, improve access and apply the principles of equal opportunities. Applicants with disabilities are under no obligation to declare their disabilities, but the University is committed to making the adjustments necessary to promote positively equality and access for disabled applicants. Applicants are encouraged to identify any special arrangements they may require. General advice and information regarding disability and the support the University can give can be found by visiting the University's Disability Support webpages.

    Start dates

    8 September 2025

    Duration

    1 year full-time

    Course Detail

    Developing Primary Curriculum Knowledge

    In this module you will develop the subject content and pedagogical knowledge to support effective teaching across the primary curriculum. You will develop a systematic understanding of statutory and non-statutory curriculum frameworks and critically analyse and evaluate current research, policy and practice. You will be encouraged to further develop your personal subject knowledge, skills and understanding and to develop subject specific teaching strategies to support pupils’ progress. For the assessment, you will submit a critical account of a current curriculum issue, and evidence that demonstrates successful teaching in an identified curriculum area.

    Pedagogies for Support Learning and Progress in the Primary School

    This module develops your understanding of pedagogy, focusing on the key areas of how pupils learn and how to support their progress; planning and teaching well-structured lessons; and adapting teaching to support the needs of all learners. The assessment provides a structured opportunity for you to plan and teach a sequence of lessons with an acute focus on meeting the needs of all learners, and you will critically evaluate the impact of the sequence on pupils’ learning and outcomes.

    Professional Values and Practice in Primary Education 1

    This module supports your professional learning in the first assessed phase of your training in early years and primary settings. The module begins to develop the theoretical knowledge, understanding, attributes, values and skills that underpin the Teachers’ Standards. You will gain a clear understanding of teachers’ statutory duties, professional expectations and responsibilities. You will develop your classroom and behaviour management skills and build your confidence as a teacher, focusing on creating a positive climate for learning and setting high expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour. For assessment, you will critically evaluate how your developing skills enabled you to impact on pupils’ learning and progress.

    Professional Values and Practice in Primary Education 2

    This module supports your professional learning in the second assessed phase of your early years and primary school based training. The module continues to support your progress in meeting the Teachers’ Standards focusing on the development of inclusive pedagogy and practice. For assessment, you will critically evaluate how your developing skills enabled you to impact on pupils’ learning and progress.

    Professional Values and Practice in Primary Education 3

    The module will be delivered by tutors and supported by experienced mentors from early years and primary schools within the ITE partnership. School based learning provides the context in which trainees will develop their understanding of the module content. For Lead Partner programmes, the delivery model will be negotiated between each Lead Partner and the University and outlined in the relevant Partnership Agreement. University lectures and tutor led sessions will consist of a combination of lectures, seminars, group activities, practical tasks, tutorials and guided independent study. In order to support the delivery of the module for trainees and apprentices employed within a broad range of partnerships, a blended learning strategy may be used. This approach will include face-to-face intensive study, online learning including tutorials, guided learning activities, webinars and directed tasks supported by our Virtual Learning Environment. Unsupervised learning will include observation of classroom practice, analysis of relevant literature, background reading for the substantive content of the module and reflection on and evaluation of current practice. School based learning will consist of focused coaching from mentors, learning through planning and teaching, mentor led observation and feedback.

    The course is a one year postgraduate certificate in primary education. You will gain a comprehensive knowledge of the core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science) and the full breadth of the National Curriculum. You’ll have the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of issues related to inclusion as well as a critical understanding of educational policy. Other themes include how young people learn, behaviour management, assessment, creative and innovative teaching methods and designing learning. You’ll research theories of child development, gain a greater understanding of current professional issues in primary education and develop your own educational philosophy.

    You’ll learn in small, friendly and supportive groups, designed to give you the confidence to succeed.

    Course tutors are very experienced and supportive and you’ll have a personal tutor to support you through your studies. Teaching is through workshops, tutorials and lectures, some with guest speakers, and through group work with other teacher trainees from a variety of subject specialisms as well as specialist subject groups.

    Two of the PGCE modules are at masters level and afterwards you will have the opportunity to continue your studies further to complete a Masters in Education, supporting your NQT year and your early professional development.

    Assessment is typically through the completion of a range of classroom activities, written assignments, reports, personal subject audits and the development of portfolios of evidence. There are no formal examinations and the assignments are carefully designed to help you to develop your teaching practice further.

    Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.

    Feedback (usually written) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on exam performance/final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.

    On average 20%* of the study time on this course is spent with your tutors (either face to face or online) in lectures, seminars, workshops etc. Study and assessments will be based on your choice of modules. Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.

    *based on 22/23 programme specifications

    1. Our teaching staff rank first in England for the proportion with higher degrees and teaching qualifications, as well as being top five for those holding doctorates (HESA 2025). So you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.

    2. We are second in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 24 since 2008 (2025 data).

    3. We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

    Visit ‘Our experts’ page where you’ll find in-depth profiles of all our academic staff

    Placements

    During your time on the course, you will be required to complete 120 days of compulsory placements in at least two of our partner schools, across two transitional key stages.

    Our network of partner schools spans Kirklees, Calderdale, Oldham, Manchester, Rochdale, Wakefield, Barnsley, and Bradford, offering a diverse range of educational settings. We will endeavour to place you in a location convenient to your postcode.

    You’ll gain valuable insight into the role of a primary school teacher, supported by a mentor within the school. They will help you refine your teaching practice through observations, planning meetings, weekly tutorials, detailed reports, and in-depth lesson evaluations.

    Additionally, your dedicated Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) will visit you in school to provide guidance, and support, and evaluate your ongoing progress.

    Postgraduate Open Days

    Learn more about Postgraduate Study at one of our upcoming Open Days

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    Important information

    When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

    Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons:

    Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

    If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and if you are unhappy with the change we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

    Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

    Changes to option modules

    Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

    Major changes

    We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff being unable to teach due to illness, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to pandemics, other disasters (such as fire, flood or war) or changes made by the government.

    Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will consult with affected groups of students and any changes would only be made in accordance with our regulations. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you let us know before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for any additional tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so and you may be eligible for an exit award depending on how far through your course you are.

    In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

    The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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