A warm welcome to PGCE FE full-time students coming to Canterbury Christ Church University and the part-time students studying at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL).

Peter Lyon
Course Director

Key dates

Course start date: 16 September 2024

Academic Calendar: Semesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.  

Welcome and induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

If any of your welcome activities are in groups, your course team will contact you before your arrival to let you know which group you will be in.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Welcome

The PGCE Further Education is a postgraduate, pre-service course for teaching in the Further Education and Skills Sector. This course is delivered at the Canterbury campus of Canterbury Christ Church University (full-time) and at CONEL in north-east London (part-time).

The PGCE Further Education (Level 7) full-time course runs over a year, comprising five days a week of placement and taught sessions.

The PGCE Further Education (Level 7) part-time course runs over two years, comprising 2-3 days a week of placement and taught sessions.

This course is specifically designed for people who are not yet working as teachers. The course includes a placement in a Further Education and Skills setting, which will enable you to meet the practical requirements of the framework. On successful completion, you will be eligible to apply for professional formation, should you wish to, through the Society for Education and Training. This leads to Qualified Teacher in the Learning and Skills Sector Status (QTLS).

We are looking forward to working with you as you gain the experience, skills, knowledge and behaviours necessary for a career in the vibrant Further Education and Skills sector. Your studies will be challenging and hard work, but very rewarding.

Getting started

You must arrange your Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and Occupational Health Clearance before you start your course.

  • Students must apply for an Enhanced DBS check through Gov.UK Disclosure and Barring Service See: Conditions of Offer at the bottom of this Course Essentials tile.
  • Occupational Health Clearance checks are completed with Canterbury Christ Church University (full-time) and CONEL (part-time), respectively.
  • Canterbury full time students will be placed in an appropriate subject specialist setting within a college following successful completion of your interview and assessment. The placement college will be within the Kent area, although trainees may be expected to travel up to one hour to their placement.
  • CONEL part time students will be placed in an appropriate subject specialist setting within the college, or other appropriate provider following successful completion of your interview and assessment.

It would be very helpful to keep up to date with current news, stories and development within the FE sector over the summer. You will be provided with an updated reading list and tasks for each module.

Bursaries

Students who are registered on an eligible Teacher Training Course may be offered a Department for Education training bursary. To allow the University to assess your eligibility for the bursary could we please ask you to fill in the bursary eligibility declaration prior to starting your course.

For more information on the bursaries available and the eligibility criteria please visit the DfE website.

For queries, please contact education.bursaries@canterbury.ac.uk.

Your welcome and induction will be w/c 16th September 2024*

*Those studying at one of our partner colleges will receive further information regarding your welcome activities and teaching timetable directly from your colleges.

Pre-course reading

You will be given a detailed student handbook with reading lists for each module when you start your course. We recommend this new book, that addresses the content of the Education and Training Foundation framework that our course is based on:

Ann Gravells and Gavin Lumsden (2024) Achieving Your Diploma in Teaching (FE & Skills): Putting Theory Into Practice for the Qualification or Apprenticeship (SAGE Publications, ISBN 1529695708)

It is useful to note that the University Bookshop offers 10% discount on most titles in print and have some price-beating book bundles. They also price match Amazon on core texts recommended in the module handbooks you will receive when you start in September. UK deliveries are FREE for orders over £10 and are usually dispatched within 48 hours.

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

Canterbury Christ Church students: FAHE.CourseAdmin@canterbury.ac.uk

The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London: partnerships.administration@canterbury.ac.uk