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Attendance

Campus

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Duration

1 year

Start

September 2025

Delivery

In-person

Our Certificate in Education (Further Education and Skills Sector) is a Level 5 nationally recognised qualification for teachers, trainers and tutors in the further education and skills sector.

Teaching is a rewarding profession where your enthusiasm and talent will really make a difference to people’s lives.

This qualification will equip you to teach in the post-14 further education and skills sector. This includes further education colleges, alternative provision (Pupil Referral Units or PRUs), sixth forms, adult and community learning, offender learning, the Police service, the NHS, and private sector training organisations.

You will learn about teaching and learning strategies, with a focus on developing your practical and academic skills through reflective practice. A key feature of the programme is your teaching placement. You’ll work closely with your course tutor and subject specialist mentor. They will observe your teaching and help you to develop your practice and skills.

The UCLan Teacher Education Partnership offers you the exciting opportunity to study at one of a range of colleges across the North West region.

This qualification will allow you to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to achieve the Learning and Skills Teacher Occupational Standard. This will enable you to teach and be employable in the further education and skills sector.

Why study with us

Opportunities to study and train to be a teacher at one of our partner colleges across the North West.
Enter a wide range of teaching roles, with opportunities for progression and promotion.
Our course is well established and enjoys an excellent reputation in the further education and skills sector.

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Expand Your World at the University of Central Lancashire

What you'll do

Choose to train to teach at a North West college that suits you. Available colleges differ depending on whether you study full or part-time.
Undertake your own project work on topics within teaching that have interest and relevance to your specialist subject and future career.
Apply the latest thinking on teaching to equip you with the knowledge and skills to work in this exciting sector.

Modules

The aim of the module is to develop your professional skills and behaviours as reflective subject-specialist practitioners in the Further Education and Skills (FES) Sector. The module will develop your confidence and independence in meeting the changing demands of teaching, learning and assessment and explore and develop an evidence-based approach to the teaching of your subject.

Module code: TS2001

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.

Alternative initial teacher education courses

If you find that the CertEd isn’t for you, you might want to consider one of our other Initial Teacher Education courses:

Award: CertEd
Delivery: Partner College
Study mode: Full time or Part-time
Duration: 1 year (full-time) or 2 years (part-time)
Start date: September
Campus: Partner College
Full-time and part-time

Blackburn College
Hugh Baird College
Wigan & Leigh College

Part-time only

Preston College
Furness College
Lakes College West Cumbria
Myerscough College
St Helens College

Future careers

The Certificate in Education (Further Education and Skills Sector) opens up a wide range of teaching opportunities across the sector. There are also opportunities to progress to higher levels of study, including a degree in education and some master’s degrees.

Teaching opportunities exist in various organisations including further education colleges, alternative provision, sixth forms, adult and community learning, the NHS, the prison service, the Police service and in private sector training organisations.

The Certificate in Education course at UCLan is a great option if you’re looking to teach in the further education and skills sector. This is not a specific school teaching qualification. However, there are now employment opportunities in schools, particularly for teachers of vocational subjects holding Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status.

On successful completion of the course you can apply for QTLS status through the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which will enhance your opportunities to gain employment as a qualified teacher in a secondary school, academy or free school.

If you would like to progress to a higher level course after completing your Certificate in Education, you may wish to consider the Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Education, which can lead to the Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Practice in Education, the MSc Professional Practice, and a Doctorate in Education – all of which are available at UCLan.

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image overlay — The Library (Preston Campus)

students-library — The Library (Preston Campus)

Entry requirements

Specialist subject: Where the subject is regarded as SEND, the applicant must have a L3 SEND qualification.
Equivalent qualifications must be named by the Society for Education and Training as suitable for entry to QTLS.
IELTS certification date must be within two years of the point of application.

A minimum Level 3 qualification in all the specialist subjects you will be teaching
GCSE English and maths at grade C/4 or above (or OfQual approved equivalent)
Where English is not the first language: The ability to communicate fluently in spoken English (IELTS 7.5 with no element lower than 7.0 or equivalent)
A teaching contract or a voluntary placement across two institutions, which includes:
A minimum of 150 hours of teaching practice (including 20 hours online synchronous teaching).
A minimum of 100 hours of non-teaching practice.
A named subject specialist mentor and pastoral manager in the primary placement location.
Completion of a satisfactory course and subject interview.
Provide confirmation of an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Pre-service applicants wishing to teach in a school, or sixth form attached to a school will also be checked against the prohibition list
Applicants wanting to teach English or mathematics (without a mathematics A Level/degree) will have to complete an additional entry assessment to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. This may impact the acquisition of a suitable teaching practice placement and additional time must be factored for this.

This course will involve you working with vulnerable groups of individuals, this may include children. In order to ensure that the University offers places on their programmes to suitable candidates you will be required to obtain a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service clearance (formerly termed CRB).

We will be able to guide you through this process once you have been offered a conditional place of study at the University of Central Lancashire.

It is important to note that should your Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check prove to be unsatisfactory for the purpose of the course you have applied to, your offer of a place for that course may be withdrawn. If you have already enrolled on a course and your DBS check subsequently discloses a criminal conviction, you may be required to withdraw from the course even if you have already started. If you are aware that your DBS check will disclose a previous conviction, please contact the course leader for advice as not all convictions may preclude you from continuing with the course.

If you want to teach English or mathematics (without a mathematics A Level or degree) you'll need to successfully complete an additional entry assessment to demonstrate your content knowledge and skills. This may impact on finding you a suitable teaching practice placement and so additional time must be factored in for this.

Specialist subject: where your specialist subject is Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), you will need to have a Level 3 SEND qualification. 

Equivalent qualifications must be named by the Society for Education and Training (SET) as suitable for entry to Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. You can check for approved maths and English qualifications on the SET website.

If you need an International English Language Training System (IELTS) certificate, the date must be within two years of the point of application.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities, and in particular those that are currently under-represented in our Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses. We specifically encourage applications from ethnic minority groups at this time.

Fees and funding

Please consult your chosen partner college(s) for more information about course-specific additional costs and optional costs.

There may be scholarships and bursaries available to support you at your chosen partner college(s). Please contact your partner college for more information.

This Cert Ed recognises the diversity of student learning needs and experiences. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies have all been designed to meet these differing needs. Guest speakers from different areas of the further education and skills sector may also be included as part of the course where applicable.

Your teaching placement is a central feature of the course. You are required to teach for a minimum of 150 hours of teaching over the period of the course together with a minimum of 100 non-teaching hours over two placements. This is a national requirement.

You can expect a wide range of assessments on the course, which are undertaken both individually as well as in groups. Examples of methods of assessment used include reports, case studies, reflective writing pieces, presentations, academic posters, observations of your own and others’ teaching practice, and assignments.

This Cert Ed will not confer Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). However, there are opportunities to work in secondary schools, including academies and free schools after completing this Cert Ed, especially so if you complete professional formation and gain Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. This qualification is suitable for those who are already teaching (in-service) as well as those who are new to teaching.

Your partner college will assist you to find a placement, but this is not always guaranteed.

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This course is delivered by the School of Psychology and Humanities

For information on possible changes to course information, see our essential and important course information

You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at the University of Central Lancashire on our student contract page

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Education (Further Education & Skills)

Why study with us

What you'll do

Modules

Modules studied

Compulsory modules

Alternative initial teacher education courses

Future careers

View the course facilities

Entry requirements

Fees and funding

Education (Further Education & Skills)

Why study with us

What you'll do

Modules

Modules studied

Alternative initial teacher education courses

Future careers

View the course facilities

Entry requirements

Important information about entry requirements

Fees and funding

Learning and assessment

Pathway opportunities and progression

Further information