PGCE - Primary with Mathematics Specialism

What makes PGCE - Primary Mathematics at Worcester special?

Age phase: Later Years pathway (Ages 5-11)

At Worcester we were born to teach. The institution was founded in 1946 as a teacher training college with a mission to 'win the peace through education'.

At Worcester, we offer a unique opportunity for you to train as a primary mathematics teacher. The course is led by experienced academic staff who are at the forefront of developments being carried out in schools in the area of mathematics teaching, ensuring that your learning is shaped by those helping to shape education itself.

We provide an ideal environment to hone your skills as an inspiring and innovative mathematics teacher.

Overview

Key features

Worcester is one of the country's leading providers of teaching training, with an excellent reputation in this area
Personalised support that continues beyond your study and in to the early stages of your career, helping you to identify your development needs and excel as a teacher
With 60 credits at Masters level and a strong international reputation, a PGCE can take you anywhere, from Masters study to a job on the other side of the world.
The PGCE explores pedagogy, practice and wider issues of education and society, enhancing your prospects as a practitioner and potentially a future leader in the profession
Take part in collaborative research with schools to develop practice and enhance children's learning of and love for mathematics

Primary Mathematics Specialist pathway

As a specialist you will be supported to develop analytical and reflective skills to teach mathematics across the primary age-range to a high standard, and to develop you as a future leader to take on roles in school which will support colleagues in this core subject area. The specialist pathway will address mathematical subject knowledge, pedagogical understanding and leadership skills to develop confident teachers who are aware of the influences on learning and teaching. The course also supports you in being able to make a difference in the classroom for all the children you will work with, and skills to enhance the level of subject knowledge for all children. You will be equipped to meet the Professional Standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) upon successful completion of the course.

Entry requirements

What qualifications will you need?

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

Honours degree normally (2:2) or higher from a United Kingdom higher education institution or equivalent qualification, in a relevant subject area. Applicants with a 3rd class degree will be considered on an individual basis.
Grade C/level 4 at GCSE in English Language, Mathematics and Science (or equivalent) (for 2022 entry, applicants must have these qualifications by the start of the course). Alternatively, we offer equivalency Test if you don’t have the required GCSE grade to apply for our courses. Trainees who begin courses before providing evidence of the required GCSE standard (or equivalent) will not be eligible for financial incentives, such as bursaries or grants until they achieve the required standard.

Qualifications not listed? Contact the Admissions Office for advice by email: AdmissionsB@worc.ac.uk

Additional requirements

An Enhanced DBS check. You will be sent details of how to apply for your DBS in the summer term. You will need to pay for this. You may already be part of the DBS update service. Find out about the update service here. As part of the DBS process you will be checked against the Children’s Barred List.
A check against the Prohibition List.
If you have lived, studied or worked overseas for three months or more in the last five years a Certificate of Good Conduct from the country of residence will be required. Further information and guidance associated with additional costs are available from the Home Office.
An online occupational health check. All those on a teacher training programme must be certified as meeting national requirements for physical and mental fitness to teach, as set by the Department for Education.
International students: IELTS 6.5 or equivalent

Other information

School experience is desirable, but not essential prior to an interview. At interview, we will discuss relevant prior school experience or opportunities applicants have had to work with school-aged children. It is at this point that we would discuss with a candidate whether additional school experience would support an individual in their decision that teaching is right for them.
Interviews will be conducted in person. Applicants will be contacted directly with more details.

All applications for PGCE should be made via the Government's Find Postgraduate Teacher Training website.

Additional useful information is available on the Government's Get Into Teaching website.

"I would recommend the maths specialism to anyone thinking about teaching as I feel the opportunity the course provides to teach across the age phases is a huge advantage."

Alison Preece

Course content

What will you study?

School experience is a substantial and integral part of the course and you will have school experience visit days and block placements in terms 1, 2 and 3.

In total, of the 38 weeks of the course, 24 will be spent in schools.

Indicative themes explored through the course content are outlined below, although regular updates mean that exact content may differ.

The Developing Teacher (30 credits at Masters level)	Indicative overview of content This module looks at your development as a teacher. It will focus on creating your teacher identity through critically reflective models, experiences and analysis of relevant theories and research. There are three distinct strands. These are: Developing professional behaviours including reflective practice and professionalism; Developing behaviour management including the learning environment and behaviour for learning; Developing inclusive practice. This is the first assessed module and will help develop your philosophy of teaching.
The Learning Child (30 credits at Masters Level)	Indicative overview of content This module looks at understanding how to support children to learn. It will focus on understanding how children develop and learn, subject specific pedagogies, adapting teaching to meet different needs of learners and the role of assessment. You will cover all of the core and foundation subjects from the National Curriculum in this module. There are three distinct strands. These are: Child Development and Learning Theories; Pedagogy and Curriculum (including all core and foundation subjects); Professional Development. This is the second assessed module and will help you research effective methods of teaching and learning to support all children.
Life in School: School Experience (Qualified Teacher Status)	Indicative overview of content This module is your School Experience (SE) module and will involve school placements. There is also an enhanced placement (in person or virtually) to further your knowledge and expertise. In order to pass this module, you need to demonstrate that you have met all of the Teachers’ Standards including Part 2. It will also provide you with experiences to aid your reflections and mentoring to support your progress. There are 3 professional development days within the module, designed to support your progress with meeting the Standards. This is the final module which will be assessed at the end of your placements.

The Developing Teacher (30 credits at Masters level)

Indicative overview of content

This module looks at your development as a teacher. It will focus on creating your teacher identity through critically reflective models, experiences and analysis of relevant theories and research. There are three distinct strands. These are:

Developing professional behaviours including reflective practice and professionalism;
Developing behaviour management including the learning environment and behaviour for learning;
Developing inclusive practice.

This is the first assessed module and will help develop your philosophy of teaching.

The Learning Child (30 credits at Masters Level)

Indicative overview of content

This module looks at understanding how to support children to learn. It will focus on understanding how children develop and learn, subject specific pedagogies, adapting teaching to meet different needs of learners and the role of assessment. You will cover all of the core and foundation subjects from the National Curriculum in this module. There are three distinct strands. These are:

Child Development and Learning Theories;
Pedagogy and Curriculum (including all core and foundation subjects);
Professional Development.

This is the second assessed module and will help you research effective methods of teaching and learning to support all children.

Life in School: School Experience (Qualified Teacher Status)

Indicative overview of content

This module is your School Experience (SE) module and will involve school placements. There is also an enhanced placement (in person or virtually) to further your knowledge and expertise. In order to pass this module, you need to demonstrate that you have met all of the Teachers’ Standards including Part 2. It will also provide you with experiences to aid your reflections and mentoring to support your progress. There are 3 professional development days within the module, designed to support your progress with meeting the Standards. This is the final module which will be assessed at the end of your placements.

PGCE Primary Mathematics

Teaching and assessment

How will you be taught?

You will learn how to:

Apply theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding of how children learn and develop in classroom settings
Manage different patterns of organisation and styles of teaching to best support effective learning and provide equality of opportunity for all children
Develop an understanding of Special Educational Needs and Disability through the application of inclusive teaching practices
Develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and teaching competence which will enable you to observe, plan, teach, organise and assess children’s progress and learning across the full primary range
Develop a clear framework for your own professional values and demonstrate a critical and reflective attitude towards your practice
Build on your Undergraduate research skills to become a trainee-researcher by undertaking a small scale school based research project in Primary Mathematics

Teaching approach

School experience in a range of settings
Studying all areas of learning and teaching across all EYFS and Primary National Curriculum subjects
Tutor-led workshops, lectures, seminars, fieldwork and guest lectures , primarily to introduce underpinning knowledge, theoretical argument, practical skills, central issues, key texts and inter-professional fields of study
Study of key texts and supplementary reading to enable you to identify subject matter that will enhance their understanding and intellectual ability
Participation in high level professional discussion, peer presentations and debate, to encourage you to actively engage with and critically challenge the field
Directed studies and problem solving tasks provide opportunities to develop approaches that will deepen levels of understanding and professional judgement; development of practice-based competence and skills of critical reflection through guided individual mentoring during placements
One-to-one academic and personal tutorial support including access to our first class Firstpoint student services

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of subject audits, formative assessments, tasks completed during lectures and enhancement activities.

Assessment methods include an assignment for both Level 7 modules, the Developing Teacher and the Learning Child.

You will be involved in assessing your teaching skills and competence as they develop through the use of a Reflective Portfolio to which you, teachers and tutors contribute. You will engage in a range of assessments during school experience, all of which combine as components towards your final award.

Throughout your course, you will be supported to prepare for your first year of teaching through the Career Entry Profile, as part of your Continuing Professional Development.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

Meet the team

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course.

You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Daniel Hughes

Dan is the PGCE Course Leader at the University of Worcester. He joined the School of Education in 2016. He lectures in Primary English, PE and outdoor education. He also works as a school experience tutor, link tutor and personal academic tutor as part of Primary ITT.

Before joining the University, Dan worked in primary schools in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. As both subject leader and phase leader, he has led teams and helped develop curriculum initiatives. As well as this, he set up an educational training business, supporting schools with the teaching of reading and writing in both key stage 1 and 2 alongside providing some training in local nurseries.

Julie Sutton

Julie is currently the Primary Lead for School Based provision and teaches regularly on the Postgraduate Pedagogy and Professional Practice course. She is the Primary Music Lead for both the postgraduate and undergraduate programmes and has a keen interest in creative arts, having had responsibility for developing Foundation Subjects across the Primary centre for several years. Having been acting Primary Partnership manager and Placements Coordinator, she continues to play an active part in partnership.

Dr Rhys Pritchard

Rhys works in the School of Education and is the Subject lead for Primary Physical Education. He joined the University of Worcester in June 2018 from Cardiff Metropolitan University where he worked as a lecturer of Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. Previously, he taught in a variety of schools in Worcestershire and abroad in Dubai and Australia, experiencing both Primary and Secondary PE, but also in the classroom.

Rhys is a First Team Coach at Stourbridge Rugby Club who play in National 2 North and is currently undertaking his Welsh Rugby Union High Performing Coach qualification, the highest coaching qualification in the sport.

Lorna Williams

Lorna is PGCE Early Years (3-7) cohort lead and the Early Years subject lead, supporting the development of Early Years in Primary initial teacher training at the University of Worcester.

Lorna is Foundation Subject lead and module lead for the Year 2 Undergraduate Foundation subjects’ module. Lorna teaches Primary Design and Technology across undergraduate and postgraduate pathways. Lorna also teaches on the PGCE ‘The Developing Teacher’ module, as well as the Undergraduate Professional Research module specialising in Early Years.

Kim Harris

Since joining the University of Worcester in 2010 Kim held the role of Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) Course Leader managing a cohort of GTP trainee for 2 years. Her teaching responsibilities include teaching pedagogy and management on the PGCE Primary degree and teaching postgraduate and undergraduate primary mathematics and music modules.

Sharon Lannie

Sharon is module leader for PGCE English at the University of Worcester and teaches on all the post-graduate, undergraduate and School Direct English modules. She also supports the development of English in primary schools across the Midlands through leading English CPD, including a termly network meeting for primary and middle school English Subject Leaders in the area. Sharon is also the PGCE Later Years Cohort Leader.

Genea Alexander

Genea's initial experience of the University of Worcester was as a postgraduate student, where she studied the MA Education. As an experienced teacher, she subsequently secured a sessional lecturing post at the University. For many years, Genea continued to work as a sessional lecturer and primary teacher simultaneously, until she made the move into higher education on a permanent basis, as a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education.

Genea was the Course Leader for Primary PGCE (QTS) until 2017 and she continues to have an active role in initial teacher training. As part of a dedicated team, she has enjoyed teaching on both undergraduate and postgraduate primary education courses in the areas of Music, Languages and Pedagogy and Professional Practice. Genea is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of NaPTEC.

Andrew Taylor

Previous to starting at the University of Worcester Andrew had taught in schools in Gloucestershire for the past 16 years as a class teacher, assistant head and Deputy head teacher. He joined the university in 2018 to pursue his passion for supporting trainee teachers and NQTs.

At the University Andrew has enjoyed supporting the primary department with developing its provision for behaviour management and working to develop the Early Career Teacher Community to support NQTs in their first year of teaching.

Kate Morley

Kate is a senior lecturer, teaching across the postgraduate and undergraduate modules for English at the University of Worcester. She also works as a school experience and PRISS tutor as part of Primary ITT and teaches on the Professional Studies module. As well as this Kate is a PPP tutor on the PGCE course.

Gill Woods

Gill Woods is the Module Leader for the Pedagogy and Management module, a core element of the PGCE course. She is also the PGCE Placements Manager and is heavily involved in working with the partnership of primary schools.

Gill has previously worked as the Cluster Leader for primary mathematics and the module leader for the PGCE Masters module which combined English, mathematics and science at another university and the primary undergraduate mathematics co-ordinator at the University of Worcester.

Careers

Where could it take you?

Graduates from the Primary Department at the University of Worcester are extremely employable; employability for the class of 2018/19 was 94%

Upon successful completion of the PGCE course, you take with you a Career Entry Profile to start the process of your continuing professional development as a teacher.

The quality and quantity of the maths teaching we received was a key strength of the course, and was a factor in gaining my first teaching job.

Sandra Johnson

Costs

How much will it cost?

Full-time tuition fees	UK students The standard tuition fee for full-time UK students registering in the academic year 2021/22 will be £9,250 per year. For more details, please visit our course fees page.	International students The standard tuition fee for full-time international students registering in the academic year 2021/22 will be £14,100 per year. For more details, please visit our course fees page.
Teacher training funding	You can get help with the costs of teacher training. A student finance package will include a Tuition Fee Loan and a Maintenance Loan. You may also be eligible for extra help if you have children or have a disability. Some courses are also eligible for a tax-free bursary or scholarship depending on your subject, degree classification or highest academic qualification.
Additional costs	Every course has day-to-day costs for essential books, stationery, printing and photocopying. Travel costs for placements vary depending on the location of schools and your mode of transport, sometimes these may be reclaimed depending on your individual circumstances. If you have lived overseas for three months or more in the last five years a Certificate of Good Conduct from the country of residence will be required. More information and guidance on costs are available from the Home Office. You will also be subject to the usual prohibition list and criminal record checks. The DfE requires all trainee teachers to obtain an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, which you will need to pay for.
Accommodation	Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study. We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £108 per week to 'En-suite Extra' at £184 per week (2021/22 prices). For full details visit our accommodation page.

Full-time tuition fees

UK students

The standard tuition fee for full-time UK students registering in the academic year 2021/22 will be £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students registering in the academic year 2021/22 will be £14,100 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Teacher training funding

You can get help with the costs of teacher training. A student finance package will include a Tuition Fee Loan and a Maintenance Loan. You may also be eligible for extra help if you have children or have a disability.

Some courses are also eligible for a tax-free bursary or scholarship depending on your subject, degree classification or highest academic qualification.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for essential books, stationery, printing and photocopying.

Travel costs for placements vary depending on the location of schools and your mode of transport, sometimes these may be reclaimed depending on your individual circumstances.

If you have lived overseas for three months or more in the last five years a Certificate of Good Conduct from the country of residence will be required. More information and guidance on costs are available from the Home Office. You will also be subject to the usual prohibition list and criminal record checks.

The DfE requires all trainee teachers to obtain an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, which you will need to pay for.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £108 per week to 'En-suite Extra' at £184 per week (2021/22 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

How to apply

How do you apply?

Apply now

Applications for PGCE courses should be made online through the government's Find Postgraduate Teacher Training website.

Visit the Get Into Teaching website for detailed information on how to apply for a PGCE.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

Course code - X00G

Make an application

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Admissions Office B

AdmissionsB@worc.ac.uk

01905 855111

PGCE Primary Office

primarypgce@worc.ac.uk

PGCE - Primary with Mathematics Specialism

What makes PGCE - Primary Mathematics at Worcester special?

Age phase: Later Years pathway (Ages 5-11)

Overview

Key features

Primary Mathematics Specialist pathway

What qualifications will you need?

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

Additional requirements

Other information

Book your place at an Open Day

What will you study?

The Developing Teacher (30 credits at Masters level)

The Learning Child (30 credits at Masters Level)

Life in School: School Experience (Qualified Teacher Status)

PGCE Primary Mathematics

How will you be taught?

You will learn how to:

Teaching approach

Assessment

Programme specification

Meet the team

Where could it take you?

Careers and Employability

How much will it cost?

Full-time tuition fees

UK students

International students

Teacher training funding

Additional costs

Accommodation

How do you apply?

Apply now

Course code - X00G

Get in touch

Admissions Office B

PGCE Primary Office

School of Education - Similar Courses

PGCE - School Direct Primary

PGCE - Primary - with Physical Education Specialism

PGCE - Primary (QTS)

Primary Initial Teacher Education (with QTS) BA (Hons)