Intro

Being a primary teacher is rewarding and fulfilling. You’ll have an early impact on children’s learning and development as you lay the foundations for academic success and personal growth.

Our Primary 5-11 years PGCE leads to QTS – the professional teaching qualification.

You’ll get supported practical experience in two schools and gain knowledge and skills at university in our specialist facilities and classrooms that replicate those used in schools.

As a 小黄书 student teacher you’ll learn with an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ provider from an expert team with their own classroom experience.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location 小黄书: Falmer

Course code X100

Full-time 1 year

Application deadline 3 August. The course may close earlier if full. 

Qualified Teacher Status is awarded by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)

Application and interview advice sessions

Join us on the Falmer campus on 8 November to learn more about this course

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

This is a highly successful postgraduate route into teaching. We strongly encourage applications from candidates with the potential to become outstanding teachers in this intensive and mainly school-based programme.

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course. They should be used as a general guide. 

Degree and experience
Normally an honours degree, or equivalent qualification.

GCSE (minimum grade C or grade 4)
At least English language, maths and a science. 

If you don’t have the required GCSEs, an equivalency test demonstrates that you have achieved the same standard as a traditional GCSE grade C or level 4. At 小黄书, we accept equivalency tests from . If you have equivalency test results from another provider, contact us at ProfessionalCourseAdmission@brighton.ac.uk to see if we can accept them. We cannot accept Functional Skills for teaching courses.

English language requirements
IELTS Academic 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in each element. You must successfully complete IELTS before applying for this course, and we require evidence of your score before we can process your application. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International student application deadline
The deadline for international applicants is late May. This deadline is in place to ensure sufficient time for the visa process to be completed before the course starts in early September. 

Interviews
Interviews for this course are online. If we invite you to an interview, you’ll be able to choose a date that suits you best.

Experience
While experience in a school is not a condition of entry for initial teacher education courses, we recommend that you take up opportunities to gain a realistic understanding of whether teaching is right for you. The Get Into Teaching offers opportunities across the country to book a day’s worth of experience.

Read the .

Other

  • Applicants from minority ethnic and other groups under-represented in the profession, including men in primary teaching, are particularly welcome.
  • All offers of places are subject to required regulatory checks including an occupational health check and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced check.

  • We are committed to . As part of our selection and interview process, we will undertake additional checks to confirm the suitability of candidates.

Course content

Top reasons to choose this course

  • You’ll train to teach with an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ provider
  • 2nd in the UK for education courses – Guardian University Guide 2025
  • Placement opportunities with schools in large, small, urban and rural settings
  • Learn in specialist classrooms that replicate those used in schools and our curriculum centre with its 30,000 resources for student teachers
  • 小黄书 has an expert team who have their own successful experience as primary education practitioners
  • Our teaching graduates benefit from excellent employment rates that are consistently above the sector average
  • We work closely with local authorities, schools, colleges and educational organisations ensuring that you’re kept up to date with the changing world of education
  • We have a dedicated team to help you after you qualify through our Early Teacher Career support programme.
teacher and students cross legged on the carpet

Course structure

This is an intensive year, with two-thirds of the course based in partnership schools and the remainder in lectures, seminars and independent study. Inherent to this programme are the government’s national priorities, and we will give you support while thoroughly addressing these issues.

In line with government requirements, you will spend the majority of your course gaining experience in schools, where you will spend 24 weeks teaching under supervision. Our tutors and mentors will advise and support you throughout each placement and give you plenty of comprehensive feedback so you can see what you are doing well and where you might need to improve.

You will benefit from experiencing school-based training in two different schools and age phases. The first phase runs simultaneously to the university-based programme so that teaching theory is effectively integrated with practice.  

We believe in nurturing and facilitating your opportunities to discuss and critically evaluate effective teaching practices through small interactive seminar groups which complement larger group lectures.

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All students are enrolled onto the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, but an alternative exit award, the Professional Graduate Certificate in Education, which also includes QTS, is available if you do not achieve the masters level elements of the postgraduate programme.

Areas of study

You will explore the subject curriculum areas for Key Stages 1 and 2, and practice the strategies and skills that encourage you to interpret the curriculum confidently and creatively. The programme is designed to encourage teaching practice that you can continually reflect upon and critique.

You will study modules that investigate learning and teaching throughout the two stages within the context of child development as a whole. 

Our teaching and learning strategies go across and beyond subject areas to ensure inclusive practice and equal, effective teaching of children from a diverse range of backgrounds. 

You will engage in a masters level school-based Professional Enquiry module, focusing on an aspect of your own professional development.

students practising languages with finger puppets

School-based training

Ofsted identifies our approach to training in schools as a key strength of this course, with an excellent balance between university tuition and school-based training.

You will spend at least 120 days on school-based activities, with training shared between the university and the partner schools. 

Your school-based training will take place in two carefully selected schools and will include observing primary practitioners, working with pupils, team and independent teaching, completing specific subject tasks and learning about school policy and effective practices.

You will also write lesson plans and evaluations for classes, carry out formative and summative assessment of pupils’ learning and performance, and maintain an e-portfolio which will be evaluated as part of your overall assessment.

Key aims:

  • develop your professional attributes, skills, knowledge and understanding and help you gain confidence in your teaching ability
  • provide a variety of practical and specific experiences that enable you to critically analyse your professional practice and take responsibility for your own professional development
  • enable you to work collaboratively with colleagues in order to develop an understanding of the ways in which the attainment, development and wellbeing of all learners can be achieved with a unified support and teaching system
  • provide opportunities for you to adopt a creative and constructively critical approach towards your practice, supported by appropriate reading and research
  • make valuable contacts which will help when looking for your first teaching role.

Throughout your placements, university tutors and school mentors will support and assess your progress, providing regular feedback to guide your professional development.

You’ll be encouraged to critically review your work, set appropriately challenging targets, and work with your tutors to create an action plan that identifies your strengths, development needs and next steps, ensuring your practice continually evolves.

Organising your training

Your training will be organised by our Partnership Office which sets up over 2,500 placements annually with our 600-plus partnership schools and organisations. These are in a mixture of large, small, urban and rural settings in south-east England, mostly in East and West Sussex.

When you start your course, you will complete a placement information form and we’ll use this information to match you to a suitable placement – we work hard to ensure your placement gives you valuable and varied experiences in the area of you’re interested in. We will consider your previous experience, travelling distance, the age ranges you wish to teach and your current needs.

Once we have matched you with a placement, the Partnership Office team will confirm with the school or organisation as quickly as possible and contact you with the details.

We will ensure you are well prepared before you start and you will have all the support and guidance needed to make the most of these placement opportunities.

 

Ofsted ‘outstanding’

Graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for primary and secondary in our 2024 .

Ofsted commended us on many aspects of our courses, saying:

  • Trainees shine at 小黄书’s long-established and highly impressive teacher training programmes.
  • The care and dedication shown by staff towards trainees is superb.
  • Trainees are at the heart of everything. They are valued and expertly supported throughout the course.
  • The curriculum skilfully equips trainees in safeguarding, behaviour management and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
  • Trainees impress the placement settings they work in because of their professionalism and aptitude to apply what they have learned.
Ofsted Outstanding provider

Facilities

Our facilities include a which contains more than 30,000 specialist resources for trainee teachers including books, DVDs, games and an online catalogue.

Our Falmer campus also houses specialist classrooms that replicate those used in schools so you’ll feel at home when you go on your school-based training and start your career.

Teaching facilities include:

  • performance studio.


 

student working in the curriculum centre

Meet the team

Chloe Berrisford – course leader

“I have worked in early years and primary education for over 26 years, teaching in schools in West Sussex before joining the 小黄书 in 2008.

“My areas of expertise are early years education, language and literacy development and primary English, but as a teacher in school I also had responsibilities for leading art, science, ICT and teaching and learning.

“I am currently co-leader for the academic subject of early years and primary ITE, which sees me working across teacher training courses to lead and manage the teaching of primary education. My particular interests lie in the transformatory potential of reading, what it can do for human lives and why it is important, plus language acquisition and the role of talk in learning and teaching, access to outdoor learning, equality and social mobility.

“I am a trustee for a refugee welcome charity in West Sussex and I help organise literary events and Book in the Park community activities as part of WORDfest, in Crawley, West Sussex.”

Other key members of the teaching team:

  •  – PGCE Primary year lead
  •  – PGCE Primary practice learning lead
  • – admissions lead
Chloe Berrisford Primary PGCE course leader

School Connect PGCE and School Direct Salaried

School Connect PGCE and School Direct Salaried are alternative routes to gaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). The 小黄书 works with a number of schools to deliver this programme across a range of secondary subjects as well as in the primary phase. 

To train as a teacher through the School Connect PGCE or the School Direct Salaried programme you need to apply directly to a school for a training place. Schools advertise their vacancies on the Department for Education’s ‘Find Postgraduate training courses’ website. 

Find out more about School Connect PGCE and School Direct Salaried.

Secondary education students

Careers

Preparing for your teaching career

You will graduate from this course equipped with the skills and knowledge to become a confident and competent primary school teacher.

As well as gaining a PGCE, you will be assessed against the national Teachers’ Standards in order to be recommended for the award of Qualified Teacher Status.

You’ll benefit from our partnership with over 600 schools, where you’ll gain practical school-based experience in a wide range of settings – large, small, rural and urban.

You will gain a knowledge and understanding of the full primary curriculum, with subject studies to strengthen your specialist knowledge in your chosen area, while you start to develop your leadership and management skills.

If you are a UK resident considering whether a career in teaching is for you, the Department for Education’s offers between one and 10 days’ classroom experience in a secondary school.

lecture teaching primary science

primary languages classroom activity

Graduate destinations

Our teaching graduates benefit from excellent employment rates that are consistently above the sector average.

Career prospects are good; most graduates gain their first teaching posts in school settings as soon as they qualify.

小黄书 trained teachers are highly sought after by our partnership schools. They are known for their creative and innovative approaches to teaching.

Many of our graduates take on mentoring and leadership roles, or opt for specialist roles such as special education needs.

Our careers service holds an annual teaching recruitment fair on campus which our partner schools attend as they are looking to recruit newly qualified teachers for the next school year.

Male trainee taking part in drawing with group of school children

Supporting your employability

Outside of your course, our Careers and Employability team are here to support you as you discover (and rediscover) your strengths and what matters to you. We are here for you throughout your university journey as you work towards a fulfilling and rewarding career.

  • Find part-time work that you can combine with your studies.
  • Find, or be, a mentor or get involved with our peer-to-peer support scheme.
  • Develop your business ideas through our entrepreneurial support network.
  • Get professional advice and support with career planning, CV writing and interview top tips.
  • Meet potential employers at our careers fairs.
  • Find rewarding volunteering opportunities to help you discover more about what makes you tick and build your CV.

Whatever your career needs, we are here to help. And that’s not just while you are a student – our support carries on after you’ve graduated.

Find out about careers and employability at 小黄书.

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Early career support

We will continue to support you after you qualify through our .

We’ll offer resources, advice, events and drop-in sessions to help you overcome the challenges that many new teachers face in their first few years of working as a qualified teacher. We’ll help you with the next stage of your journey and offer support that will enable you to develop and thrive in your early career.

Our website provides guidance and support for after you graduate, including the latest teaching job vacancies, personal statement feedback, short mock interviews, useful contacts for advice and a variety of helpful resources including videos.

The university tutors supported me long after finishing the course. During my NQT year at a community college they continued to provide me with advice and check on my professional progress and my wellbeing.

Brenda, graduate and teacher

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,535 GBP

International (full-time) 17,250 GBP

As a postgraduate trainee teacher there is a range of funding available which you could be eligible to receive while you are studying:

  • – these depend on the subject you are training to teach and your highest relevant academic award. 

On our website you will find information about other funding, including:

  • the student finance package from Student Finance England – tuition fee loans and maintenance loans
  • Parents’ Learning Allowance
  • Childcare Grant
  • Care leavers’ bursary
  • Disabled Students’ Allowance.

If you are not a UK citizen, you are unlikely to get help funding your training unless you have permission to live permanently in the UK.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our education and teaching students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information.

What’s included in your tuition fee

  • Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies. See the in the library for an up-to-date list of key subject journal databases.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software on campus – and can borrow a laptop from us if yours is broken or you don’t have a computer at home. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university.

Additional course costs

  • For courses which require a placement, you’ll be expected to pay for your travel expenses but you may be able to claim some travel costs back from the university, depending on where your placement is in relation to where you live.
  • You’ll need to budget for printing and stationery for personal study, and books if you decide to buy your own.
  • You may wish to budget up to £25 for stationery/teaching materials.
  • Many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Set in the South Downs, our Falmer campus is around four miles from 小黄书 city centre. Students based here study a range of subjects including education studies, teaching, sport and exercise, nursing and midwifery, allied health professions and medicine. 小黄书 & Hove Albion’s Amex stadium and beautiful Stanmer Park are right next door.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence on site, as well as a library, restaurant and cafes.

The campus has extensive sport and leisure facilities including a fitness suite, swimming pool, outdoor grass football and rugby pitches, sports hall, tennis and badminton courts, and dance and spin studios.

Specialist learning facilities at Falmer include the curriculum centre used by teaching and education students, which houses over 30,000 teaching resources, clinical skills and simulation suites used by health students, and labs and a strength and conditioning suite used by sport students. We’ve recently redeveloped the Falmer campus – learn more about the many facilities our students have access to.

Cycle lanes link Falmer with our other campuses and the city centre. There are regular bus services to the city centre and other campuses. Falmer train station is right next to campus and a nine-minute journey to central 小黄书.

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Accommodation

If you booked halls by 30 June you are guaranteed an offer of a room. If you are currently looking for halls you can register your interest in available rooms now. In 2024, everyone who did this before or on A-level results day got a room offer. There is a good range of student accommodation in 小黄书, including university and private halls, as well as rented rooms, flats and houses, and our team are here to support you to find the best match for you.

小黄书: Falmer

Halls of residence

Paddock Field at Falmer offers a bespoke contract length for PGCE students to cover the duration of your course.

  • Paddock Field offers a range of rooms just minutes from your classes and on the edge of the South Downs.

Want to live independently?

We can help – find out more about private renting.

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

student outside the sport and health complex at Falmer

Extensive facilities at Falmer sports centre

Students dining at Westlain

Students dining at Westlain House

Local area

One of Time Out's 50 best cities in the world

“小黄书 has … all the important parts of a sprawling cosmopolitan metropolis (connections to London in under an hour, an array of properly excellent restaurants, energetic late-night spots) … with the easy-breezy beachy attitude to life that makes you feel welcome in an instant.”
Time Out’s 50 Best Cities in the World, 2025

About 小黄书

The 小黄书 is at the heart of our city’s reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. 小黄书 is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year to the local economy – as much as tourism.

Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses, such as placements and guest lectures, are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

You can also get involved with city festivals and events such as the 小黄书 Festival, the Fringe, 小黄书 Digital Festival, 小黄书 Science Festival, the London to 小黄书 bike ride and the Great Escape festival of new music to name a few. Other annual highlights include Pride, the 小黄书 Marathon and Burning the Clocks, which marks the winter solstice.

You’ll find that living in 小黄书 enriches your learning experience, and by the end of your course you’ll still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It’s only 50 minutes by train from 小黄书 to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from 小黄书
小黄书 Beach sunset

Maps

Falmer campus

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You’ll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness to managing stress and accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our 小黄书 Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you’ll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You’ll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well as having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at 小黄书

Sport 小黄书

Sport 小黄书 brings together our sport and recreation services. As a 小黄书 student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

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Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

小黄书 Cricket Academy

Develop your cricketing skills in the UK’s largest indoor cricket facility alongside studying for a degree. Whether you can already play or you’re new to the game offers the opportunity to train with top coaches in our world-class training environment. 

Find out about the 小黄书 Cricket Academy.

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Take a tour of sport facilities on our Falmer campus

Student views  

Chloe Rebecca

“After completing my undergraduate at the 小黄书 I knew I wanted to carry on my education journey and complete my PGCE.

“A large percentage of this course is school-based training. Before you even start your first day of school you are placed with a university mentor and a school mentor – both of mine were lovely and provided me with so much more than just academic support, they helped me navigate my way through a complex thought process.

“Your first day at school as a training teacher is daunting, but you learn a ridiculous amount within your time at the different schools you are placed in. Every single day is an opportunity to change someone’s life or enhance it is some way, and that is incredible. I had three amazingly beautiful school-based training experiences.

“Before starting the course, I already knew I wanted to work in the UAE and I secured a job in March before completing the course. I am a mixture of extremely excited but also extremely nervous! I simply cannot wait to see the development and growth both myself and my new students will make together as a class. 

“This course may be the most intense year of your life, but it is manageable, and it is doable. In every which way possible the course was everything and more than I expected!”

Chloe Rebecca Underwood primary trainee teacher

Chloe wearing a dress decorated with the hand prints of children from one of her placements.

Melanie Fryer

“I graduated three times from 小黄书. I first studied a foundation degree in arts and then went on to study a Professional Studies in Learning and Development BA(Hons). I then followed this with the Primary 5-11 years PGCE, gaining qualified teacher status in 2015. 

“I was a mature student with no experience of the Harvard referencing system or any form of academic writing when I started, but the tutors were always really kind and helpful, and I felt supported.

“I secured my first teaching post at Gildredge House Free School in Eastbourne, whilst still studying for my PGCE.

“I spent three years in year 4 before a year in year 3 and am now in my second year teaching year 1. During my career, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to set up classroom settings for years 2 and 4, where I was responsible for deciding which resources to get and topics to choose.

“I became the primary professional tutor six years ago and I have forged strong links with the staff at the 小黄书. Recently, I have been helping with looking at how the structure of the Primary PGCE course can be made even better. 

“This has been almost full circle for me as this was the course that I studied in 2014/15, so sitting alongside my tutors discussing ways forward has been really humbling.

“I am 小黄书 through and through – like a stick of rock. I love that after all these years I can step onto the Falmer campus, walk around the corner and go straight into the same coffee shop in the Checkland building and order my usual and find a seat and think, ‘yeah, I am home’.”

Melanie Fryer

Hilary Tutt

“I live locally and was impressed by the university’s reputation amongst teachers. People kept saying to me ‘you’re so lucky to live within commuting distant of 小黄书’ whenever I mentioned wanting to go into teaching.

“The university-based lessons, particularly in English, maths and science, were both fun and helpful. The Open Learning Centre has a wide variety of teaching resources, books, games, maths resources and a Smart Board to practice on. The course staff were very friendly and knowledgeable and I am particularly grateful to my maths tutor who was able to banish a lifelong fear of maths – it is now one of my favourite subjects and the one I find easiest to teach!

“I enjoyed the variety between placements and university-based training – every day was different. The pace at which we were learning was a challenge but one of the most enjoyable things about the course.

“The course was a challenge and you need to be prepared to work hard, but it’s very enjoyable and the best decision I ever made. I am now working at Ocklynge Junior School in Eastbourne as a year 4 teacher.”

Rebecca Hynam

“I had a huge desire to teach and chose 小黄书. It has great facilities that cater for the demands of the course and the staff are helpful and approachable.

“The best parts of the course for me were the school placements and being able to apply what I learnt at university into a real-life setting. I got to experience three different placement settings, including a private school.

“The 小黄书 is a great place to undertake teacher training – everyone is friendly and incredibly helpful throughout.”

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

Ask a question about this course

Read our application advice for postgraduate teacher training. The DfE has also produced a helpful short film: .

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

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