Skip to main content Skip to navigation

International PGCE (PGCEi) Primary


Course code

Primary: X35J

Qualification

Postgraduate Certificate in Education International (PGCEi)

Duration
1 Year

Start Date
21st August 2023

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.


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.

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).

We have assessment-only options (delivered in the UK) should you wish to gain Qualified Teacher Status upon completion of the PGCE International Programme. Please note that Assessment-only programmes have their own nationally-regulated course entry requirements and we recommend that you review these should you intend to progress to this programme following your PGCEi. Further information on our Assessment-only programme can be found on the Centre for Teacher Education websiteLink opens in a new window.

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 language 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 language requirements at Warwick.


Documentation

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

Your reference 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.  

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 (pass/fail)  
  • All practical teaching in the classroom must also be assessed against all the UK Teachers’ Standards (pass/fail) culminating with a summative lesson observation by a Warwick Link Tutor.  

Fees and Funding

Route    

2023-24

PGCEi Primary (In Person Assessment) Full Time EU/Overseas/Home £7950
PGCEi Primary (Fully Online Assessment) - Subject to approval Full Time EU/Overseas/Home £7250

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.

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

    To find out more about the differences between the two programmes please read our Key Differences and FAQs document

    To be considered for one of our International Programmes, you will first need to complete the following self-assessment form (Stage 1 application).Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window Your submission will be received by the Centre for Teacher Education, and if we determine that you meet the entry criteria, set by the University of Warwick and the Department for Education, you will be invited to submit a formal Postgraduate Application Form (Stage 2 application).

    For 2023-24 we are hoping to be able to offer two separate assessment options. Subject to approval, you will need to select at application stage whether to have your teaching practice assessed online, or in person.

    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.  
    1. 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. 

    Please only complete the self assessment formLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window if you have reviewed the entry criteria for this programme and have determined that you are a suitable candidate.

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