Professional graduate and postgraduate courses

If you want to take a teacher training course for graduates in England or Wales, you will need to decide whether you want to study for a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education or the academically more demanding Postgraduate Certificate in Education that gives some credits towards a master's qualification.

In Scotland, the Professional Graduate Diploma of Education (PGDE) is only offered at one level.

Professional Graduate and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in England and Wales

If you successfully complete any of the primary, middle years or secondary courses in the GTTR scheme, you would obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) for teaching in England and Wales. This is the mandatory professional status you need to teach in state schools.

Almost all training providers in England and Wales award an academic Professional Graduate or Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) qualification with the award of QTS. The Professional Graduate Certificate in Education is the same level academically as the final year of an honours degree course (H level). The Postgraduate Certificate in Education contains some credits at master's degree level (M level credits) as well as H level credits. The number of M level credits in postgraduate awards varies significantly from one training provider to another. Many providers will give you the opportunity to study for the additional M level credits required to obtain a full master's level qualification after you have completed your PGCE course.

Course provision in England and Wales also differs from one training provider to another. Some providers only offer professional graduate or postgraduate courses and others offer courses at both levels. Training providers that award both a Professional and Postgraduate Certificate in Education will recruit differently. Some providers will recruit for two separate courses and, if you take up a place on one course, you will not necessarily have the option of transferring to the other course after you have started your studies.

Other training providers will recruit for one course and then decide whether you should follow the professional or postgraduate route based on your initial performance. Providers can award professional and postgraduate qualifications by assessing the same course at two different levels or by setting more challenging assignments for the postgraduate award. Some providers may require students for the postgraduate qualification to write a dissertation.

Some training providers that only offer postgraduate level courses may still be able to award QTS if you do not reach the required academic standard for the postgraduate qualification. Other providers may not be able to do this.

On Course Search you can look for courses offered only at professional graduate or postgraduate level or for courses offered at both levels. Before you make any choices on your application, you should contact the training providers where you want to study to confirm whether or not their course provision meets your requirements.

Professional Graduate Diploma of Education (PGDE) courses in Scotland

If you successfully complete a primary or secondary teaching course at the training providers in Scotland in the GTTR scheme, you would be awarded the Teaching Qualification (TQ). This is the only mandatory professional qualification that you need to teach in Scotland.

The PGDE entry requirements are based on credits that are standard for all Scottish training providers. You should refer to Course entry requirements for information about the statutory qualification requirements for course entry.