Secondary Music PGCE with QTS
Start Dates
7 September 2026
Duration
1 year full-time
Overview
Why choose Huddersfield for this course?
- Gain practical experience and subject expertise - our Secondary PGCE prepares you to inspire learners and succeed in a rewarding teaching career.
- On successful completion of the course, we’ll recommend you for QTS and you’ll also earn 60 master’s credits - a strong foundation for your career.
- Train in local partner schools and build confidence in the classroom as you develop your teaching skills.
Accreditation and Professional Links
Recognised connections to give you an extra edge when you graduate. Read More
Are you passionate about inspiring young minds and shaping the future of secondary education? If you hold an undergraduate degree and are striving to become a secondary school Music teacher, our Secondary Music PGCE with QTS is the ideal step towards achieving your teaching ambitions.
You’ll develop your subject specialist knowledge in Music alongside hands-on classroom experience, equipping you with the skills, confidence, and expertise to support pupils aged 11-16, and thrive in a rewarding teaching career.
Why Secondary Music PGCE with QTS?
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Focuses on practical engagement with the curriculum whilst developing your understanding of the theories which underpin the best models of practice.
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Equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in secondary education.
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Extensive classroom experience through placements in partnership schools, where you’ll observe, practice, and receive mentoring from experienced teachers.
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Music is a rewarding subject that fosters personal growth and creativity. You'll learn to teach it in ways that inspire and engage young people through active music-making.
The Department for Education provides financial support for trainee teachers on some secondary subjects, either as a bursary or scholarship. You can find more information on the Department for Education Get into Teaching website.
Entry Requirements
- An Honours degree with a classification of 2:2 or above. Your degree must align with the subject content specified in the national curriculum for the subject you plan to teach.
- GCSE English and Maths 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.
- You also need satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and occupational health clearances prior to registration on the course. We arrange these as part of the application process. You'll be required to sign a self-declaration at the start of each year and at the end of the course. All police contact during the course must be reported to the course leader as a matter of urgency and may lead to suspension or termination. We will request an Overseas Police Check if you have lived in a country outside of the UK for 6 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years before applying to us and whilst aged 18 or over.
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.
Course Details
Teaching and Assessment
Discover what to expect from your tutor contact time, assessment methods, and feedback process.
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.
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 secondary school teacher, supported by both 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.
What's surprised me is how quickly you get to teach - I did my school induction in week two, my placement started in week three and by week five I was preparing and teaching a lesson.
- Shondelle Quarshie
Secondary Education PGCE, now Programme Quality Lead for English, Maths & ESOL at Kirklees College.
Your Career
Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in a variety of roles such as a Secondary School Teacher, Community Education Officer, Learning Mentor, Education Consultant, Family Support Worker and Education Mental Health Practitioner.*
*Source: Prospects
98%
Percentage of our postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating.
* HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23, UK domiciled.
£38.5k
Average salary of our postgraduate students fifteen months after graduating.
* HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23, mean salary, UK domiciled, full-time UK employment as main activity.
The PGCE made my dream of teaching a reality in 12 months. Theory, school experience, and QTS prep were ideal. Metacognition reshaped my lesson planning, and tutor support was invaluable, giving me confidence and skills to thrive as a teacher.Read More
- Amrita Murukesh
Secondary Education PGCE, now a Secondary School Teacher at Yasmina British Academy in Abu Dhabi.
Fees and Finance
This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.
Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy.
From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE)
For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/study/fees/
This information is for international students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.
Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy.
For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/international/fees-and-funding/
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required to enable you to undertake placements in settings with children. We arrange this as part of the application process. Please note that there may be a charge for the DBS check.
Scholarships and Bursaries
Discover what additional help you may be eligible for to support your University studies.
Tuition Fee Loans
Find out more about tuition fee loans available to eligible postgraduate students.
What’s included in your fee?
We want you to understand exactly what your fees will cover and what additional costs you may need to budget for when you decide to become a student with us.
If you have any questions about Fees and Finance, please email the Student Finance Team.
Gallery
Take a look at the Charles Sikes and Richard Steinitz Buildings, where your lectures and seminars will take place.
Charles Sikes Building Exterior
Diamond Jubilee Lecture Theatre
Richard Steinitz Building Exterior
Subject-specific teaching weeks
Seminar room
Breakout space on The Street in the Charles Sikes
Explore More
Student Blog - From Teaching Dream to Reality
PGCE Secondary Education graduate Amrita shares the valuable insights into her teaching journey, including the support she received and lessons she learned.
PGCE Secondary Education at Huddersfield
Discover our PGCE Secondary Education courses. Gain advanced teaching strategies, classroom experience, and expert support to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and inspire the next generation.
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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.