Becoming a Teacher in Wales
To become a teacher you need to complete PGCE courses leading directly to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
- PGCE stands for a postgraduate certificate in education.
- In order to do a PGCE, the participants will need a degree.
- The subject that the participant’s degree is in should be the one they intend to teach, as a PGCE won’t teach participants about their subject in detail, but rather, how to teach.
- In addition, they’ll need at least a C in English and Mathematics at GCSE, and for ages 7-14 they’ll need a C in Science too.
- PGCEs are offered by a variety of places – universities, Teach First, or through a school direct training program.
- Teach First is a social enterprise registered as a charity where participants can achieve Qualified Teacher Status through the participation in a two year training programme that involves the completion of a PGCE .
- The PGCE lasts a year or two if they do it part-time.
- They’ll also have at least two school placements (without pay but no tuition fees), which is a great chance to ensure you’re suited for teaching.
- They’ll have two mentors:
- a university mentor
The university mentor contacts the school the future teacher is assigned to, whether they have problems, or the participants. They’ll also come in to visit to check on the progress. - a school mentor.
The school mentor is a person who teaches the same subject at the school participants are assigned to. They’ll be there to help the participants most days, and should talk with them on a weekly basis about how they’re doing, and what they need to work on.
- a university mentor
- Once participants finish their PGCE, they’ll be known as a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT). They’ll have this status for the first year.
- The PGCE is the first step to teaching, it’s not the last.
- After that NQT must complete one year’s training in school with pay and additional training with 10% less teaching than other teachers