Name: Education & Training (Further Education & Skills), Introductory Cert
Price: £1,540 per 20 credits GBP

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Attendance

Campus

Start

Duration

1 year

Start

January 2025

Delivery

In-person

On our Introductory Certificate you'll study the first two modules of the Certificate in Education or PGCE. This is the nationally recognised qualification for educators in the further education (FE) and skills sector. It covers FE colleges, training providers and sixth forms.

The Introductory Certificate is a part-time course that usually takes up to one academic year.

Teaching is an interesting and rewarding profession, one where you will use your enthusiasm and talents to really make a difference. This qualification will start to prepare you to teach in the post-14 FE and Skills sector, which offers a broad range of subjects from hairdressing and beauty therapy, construction and engineering to public services, sport, travel and tourism and hospitality and catering.

The course is particularly suitable if you do not need a full teaching qualification such as the Certificate in Education/PGCE, but would like to take a qualification that leaves the way open to progress to the full award in the future.

You will be introduced to classroom fundamentals and teaching and learning strategies, and the focus will be on developing your practical and academic skills through reflective practice. Your teaching placement is an essential feature of the programme and you will work closely with your course tutor and subject specialist mentor, both of whom will observe you teaching and help you to develop your practice and skills.

Why study with us

You could study and train to be a teacher at one of eight UCLan partner colleges across the North West.
A wide range of teaching and training roles are available across the further education and skills sector.
Our course is well established and enjoys an excellent reputation in the FE and skills sector.

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Award: Introductory Cert
Delivery: Partner college
Study mode: Part time
Duration: up to 1 year
Campus: Blackburn College, Carlisle College, Furness College, Hugh Baird College, Lakes College, Myerscough College, St Helens College or Wigan & Leigh College
Start dates: September and January

What you'll do

You will start your training to become a teacher in the further education and skills sector.
Learn from experienced tutors as they model inspirational teaching that you can use in your own practice.
Equip yourself with the knowledge and skills you need to work in this exciting and dynamic 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 Introductory Certificate isn’t for you, you might want to consider one of our other Initial Teacher Education courses:

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Future careers

The Introductory Certificate in Education and Training opens up a wide range of teaching and training opportunities across the FE and Skills sector. There are also opportunities to progress to complete the full PGCE or Certificate in Education.

Teaching opportunities exist in organisations including:

Further education (FE) colleges
Sixth forms
Alternative provision in pupil referral units (PRU)
Adult and community learning
The NHS
The prison service
The police service
Private sector training organisations

The Introductory Certificate is primarily for those wishing to work with the 14+ age group and possible job roles include:

Trainer
Assessor
Instructor
Demonstrator
Mentor
Pastoral mentor

Institutions have their own qualification requirements and you are advised to check with your employer as to whether this target qualification is suitable for your current or future role.

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Entry requirements

If you're new to teaching (pre-service) or already teaching (in-service) in the FE and skills sector, you can apply for the Introductory Certificate in Education and Training.

At least a Level 3 (QCF) qualification in the subject you will be teaching
GCSEs: 5 at grade 4/C or equivalent to include English
IELTS: 7.5 or equivalent
Those applicants aspiring to teach English or maths will have to complete an additional entry assessment to demonstrate their content knowledge and skills- please allow extra time for this as the additional entry assessment will take longer to complete and process than a standard application

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're pre-service and want to teach in a school, or sixth form attached to a school, you'll also be checked against the prohibition list.

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 fees and funding as well as 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.

Additional costs

As part of your course, there may be additional costs to consider that are not included in your tuition fees. Most of these will be optional, but some courses have essential additional costs. Find out more about additional costs.

The course will introduce you to planning and principles of learning. You'll look at methods of teaching, learning and assessment. You'll also learn about the underpinning educational theory. This will support your teaching practice and professional development.

Your teaching placement is a central feature of the course. You must to teach for a minimum of 30 hours of teaching over the duration of the Introductory Certificate. You also need to take part in 50 hours of non-teaching related activity. This is a national requirement.

You'll get assessed throughout the course. This will be a combination of a professional teaching practice portfolio and assignment work. Examples of methods of assessment used include:

Case studies
Reflective writing pieces
Presentations
Observations of your own and others’ teaching practice
Assignments

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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 & Training (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

Additional costs

Education & Training (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

Additional costs

Learning and assessment

Further information