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International PGCE (PGCEi) Primary


Course code

Online assessment:
P-X35M
In Person Assessment:
P-X35J

Qualification

Postgraduate Certificate in Education International (PGCEi)

Duration
1 Year

Start Date
14th August 2024

Department of Study
Centre for Teacher Education

Location of Study
Distance Learning


This one year teaching qualification is specially designed to prepare you for teaching in international settings, developing you into a highly reflective practitioner, equipped with the skills and knowledge to be a successful teacher. With a compulsory 6 day virtual induction, led by experts from Warwick and Assessed Teaching against UK Teachers’ Standards. You will have ‘Live’ interactive online lectures every two weeks and support from international school leaders and experts.

Visit our Frequently Asked QuestionsLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window page to find out more about the PGCEi programme


Course overview

This one-year, 90-credit Post-Graduate course is a teacher training course designed to prepare you for teaching in international settings. It will equip you to be a reflective, competent and professionally aware educator through a unique blended learning.

The course provides a well-integrated blend of online and school-based learning opportunities that develop a values-based and evidence-informed approach to classroom practice in an international school setting. With reference to the Core Content Framework, and taking account of the local contexts in which students are teaching, the course will provide an appropriate training experience for those teaching in the Primary (5-11) or Early Years Phases (3-7).

Trainees will be supported to understand the complexity of evidence and established views on effective learning in schools. Taught sessions and assessments will encourage critical engagement with evidence and the implications for personal teaching practice.  

The Centre for Teacher Education is the University’s global-service provider for high quality teacher training and professional education. At it’s most recent inspection, the University of Warwick’s Centre for Teacher Education has been awarded “Outstanding” provider status by the British government standard (OFSTED).  

Qualified Teacher Status in England and Wales

Please note that successful completion of the PGCEi programme does not result in iQTS.
The PGCE international programme does not offer a licence to teach in the UK or elsewhere.

If you are interested in gaining International QTS (iQTS) You may also be interested in our iQTS Primary PGCE (5-11)Link opens in a new window and our iQTS Primary PGCE 3-7 Link opens in a new windowwhich upon successful completion will result in International QTS (iQTS).

General entry requirements


Placement School

You are responsible for securing your own school placement of at least 90 days. You will need to provide evidence of your placement prior to submitting a formal application.


Minimum Academic requirements

  • UK Bachelors degree with Honours at 2:2 or above, or equivalent level.

  • At least Grade C or the new Grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics

Equivalency Tests

For the 2023/24 cohort only, we will be accepting 3rd party equivalency tests in place of GCSEs. The current providers that have been approved are as follows, with details of the current discounts that are available. If you are intending to use another equivalency testing company, we recommend you contact our admissions team prior to doing so to ensure that they meet the entry criteria. 

Equivalency Testing

  • Why choose Equivalency Testing? 
  • Long standing company 
  • Excellent student support 
  • Secure testing 
  • Good and quick feedback 
  • Significant discount available for PGCE offer holders, please email cte.admissions@warwick.ac.uk for the code.

A Star Equivalency**

Why chose A Star Equivalency? 

  • Excellent student support 
  • A clear outline of required material in each exam 
  • Rolling programme of live online subject specific support sessions. 
  • An extensive range of free support material 
  • Practice papers and marking schemes 
  • Discounted from £165* to £139 (saving £26). Please contact cte.admissions@warwick.ac.uk for the discount code. 

If you are intending to use another equivalency testing company, we recommend you contact our admissions team prior to doing so to ensure that they meet the entry criteria. 


English requirements

Your spoken and written English must be of an adequate standard for postgraduate study. If English is not your native language, you will need a minimum score of 6.5 under the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Find out more about English requirements at Warwick.


Documentation

You will need to provide two appropriate references in support of your application. The references must be received directly from the referee from a business email address that can be verified.

One of your references should be from your current employer, and if you have ever worked with children, you should provide a reference from that employer.

It can take a while for a referee to complete and submit a reference on your behalf, so the sooner you get in touch with your referee, the better – you might want to send your referee a description of the course and what you’d like to get out of it to make it easier. You can learn more about what a reference should include here.

You will be required to provide high quality scans of all your qualifications to evidence that you meet the qualification entry requirements set out above. Information on who we will accept to attest your qualifications can be found here.

If you have qualifications that have been obtained outside of the UK, we will need to complete a comparability check of your qualifications to ensure they meet the entry criteria. To speed this process up it would be beneficial for you to obtain an ENIC comparability statement. If your qualification certificates are in a language other than English you must also provide an official translation of your certificates to allow us to ascertain equivalency.

Core Modules

Phase Studies 

Specific phase sessions (your choice Primary or Early Years) heighten your awareness of the pedagogical approaches related to your school practice. This will help you adopt a range of approaches and strategies to ensure your teaching is sufficiently diverse to challenge or support as appropriate in an international education setting.   

You engage critically and analytically with a range of theories and models which underpin effective teaching and learning. You'll develop the skills, knowledge and understanding required to be an effective teacher. You'll understand the impact this has on pupil progress throughout the curriculum, building towards a vision for outstanding learning and teaching in your area of expertise that will underpin your practice on teaching placements. 

You are required to observe or teach a minimum 15 maths sessions and 15 phonics sessions in your school over the course of the academic year.

Assessment: Summative Master's level assignment. 

Professional Enquiry 

You will develop the skills, knowledge and understanding required to be an effective teacher and understand the impact this has on pupil progress in a range of international contexts.  

You'll also be introduced to skills and techniques to support your development as a reflective practitioner, gaining access to a wide variety of pedagogic styles and innovative methods for learning and teaching in international settings. Throughout the course, links between critical reflection and your subject specialisms will be emphasised, helping you to embrace the concept of a connected curriculum.  

Assessment: Summative Master's level assignment.


Professional Practice
 

This module is concerned with ensuring that you are able to teach children a broad and balanced curriculum giving consideration to the ways children learn best including learning through play. It will develop your subject knowledge as well as provide you with a wealth of teaching approaches and activities for each subject. This module includes regular meetings with your school mentor, as well as evaluations of professional practice through mentoring conversations on placement following lesson observations.  

Assessment:

There are 2 components for the assessment of this module, both of which must be passed for the module to be completed.  

  • Reflections which detail your progress towards the UK Teachers’ Standards which are evidenced in the Professional Digital Portfolio (PDP) – equivalent to 3000 words
  • All practical teaching in the classroom must also be assessed against all the UK Teachers’ Standards culminating with a summative lesson observation by a Warwick Link Tutor.  You will need to select on application whether this observation visit is in person, or is completed online by selecting either the face to face or online assessment route.

Fees and Funding

Route    

2024-25

PGCEi (In Person Assessment) Full Time EU/Overseas/Home £ 8,200
PGCEi (Fully Online Assessment) Full Time EU/Overseas/Home £ 7,500

If you opt to pay your fees in one instalment, you will need to submit your deposit payment on the 3rd July and the remaining programme fees on the programme start date.

If you opt to pay your fees in instalments, the following is an example of the fee schedule:

Deposit Payment Deadline: 3rd July 2024 Instalment One Date: Start date of programme Instalment Two Date: January 2025 Instalment Three Date: April 2025
Payment Amount: £600 Payment Amount: 50% of fees (minus £600 deposit you will have already paid) Payment Amount: 25% of fees Payment Amount: 25% of fees

If your placement school will be paying your programme fees, you will need to ensure you provide sponsorship information when you enrol.

Additional course costs

  • Study costs

There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.

    •  Computing requirements

    A computing device with a browser and broadband internet access is required for the course. The university provides central guidance on the recommended specification for any device you use to undertake your academic work.

    •  Resit Fee

    Should you fail your summative lesson observation carried out by a Warwick Link Tutor, and you have opted for a face to face assessment visit, you will incur a resit fee to cover the costs of arranging and carrying out a further assessment which will vary depending on the location of your educational setting.

    You should consider these costs when deciding whether or not to accept this offer. Read more on our funding pagesLink opens in a new window.


    *22/23 fees stated. The tuition fee payable for each subsequent year of your programme will increase annually by the relevant inflation, which has ranged 4% to 6% in the last few years. Fees will be invoiced in advance of the presentation of the module each year. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our terms and conditions to find out more.

    Exact payment due dates can be checked by logging into your Student Finance account on the Student Records System, once you have enrolled). Should a sponsor, such as your school, be paying your fees, you would need to complete the sponsorship form.Link opens in a new window

    For up-to-date information concerning fees, funding and scholarships for Home/EU and Overseas students please visit Warwick's Fees and Funding webpage.

    Before you submit your Stage 1 Self Assessment form please ensure you have read all information about the programme, are confident you meet the entry criteria, and that you will be in a position to provide all required documentation to meet any conditions of offer

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    Stage 1 - Self Assessment Form (SAF)

    Before you are invited to submit a formal (Stage 2) application form you must complete the following

    • Submit a Self Assessment form (This form will open on 1 November 2023) - This form asks you to confirm details such as the programme you are interested in, your country of study (must be outside the UK) and your placement school information.
    • Upload a completed School Statement of SupportLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window (SSoS) signed by your placement school - This form is official confirmation from your placement school that they are able to support you throughout the programme. You must have a school statement of support before we are able to invite you to make a formal stage 2 application.

    We cannot assess your viability as a candidate, and progress to stage 2 of the application process if you have not returned both of these documents fully completed.

    Stage 2 - Formal Application

    If the information you have provided in your SAF & SSoS indicates that you meet the entry criteria for the programme you are interested in, we will invite you to submit a formal University of Warwick Postgraduate application form.
    Upon invitation to apply you will be provided with:

    • Application Guide - Which will instruct you how to set up your applicant portal and what information you must provide

    You will also be required to submit documentation that evidences the information you have provided in your self assessment form.
    This will include high quality scans of all relevant qualifications that confirm you meet the entry requirements for the programme you have applied to (and official translations where these documents are not in English)

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    What is the difference between the in person assessment route and the online assessment route? 

    The in person assessment route, the University of Warwick will arrange for one of its tutors to visit you during your placement to assess your teaching practice. To account for this visit, this route will attract a higher course fee. If upon reviewing your application for this route we identify that it will not be viable to visit you based on your location due to prohibitive costs, we will advise you to apply for the online assessment route. 

    The online assessment route, the University of Warwick will arrange to observe your teaching practice remotely. The assessment will be undertaken in one of two ways: 

    1. You will upload a recording of your lesson to a secure online platform where this will be accessed asynchronously by your assessor.  
    2. The University of Warwick will assess your lesson via a pre-arranged live stream of your lesson. Please be advised that if you selected this option, the lesson would need to take place during the working hours of our UK based tutors. The lesson will not be recorded. 

    If you select the online assessment route, your placement must confirm that they agree to the recording or streaming of your lessons. 

    If you are successful at the Stage 2 application, we will recommend a conditional offer.