How to apply
Making an application
Before making an application, ensure that your subject and route of study is available.
All applications for the PGCE should be made online through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR).
We encourage you to apply early as popular subject areas can be filled quickly. You must submit your application by 31 July at the very latest to allow time for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (which can take several weeks). The University will not register any PGCE student who has not started the DBS checking process.
Skills Tests
All applicants for a PGCE course are now required by the Teaching Agency to have taken and passed numeracy and literacy skills tests as part of the application process before starting the course. Further details on the tests can be found on the Teaching Agency website.
There is a range of supporting information on the website, including links to practice tests, and we advise that you make full use of this information as you will have limited attempts to pass the tests.
We strongly recommend that you book your skills tests as soon as possible. You do not need to have applied for a PGCE course through GTTR to book the tests but you must have applied before you actually take them. We will use the results of the tests to inform our decisions about whether or not you will be invited for interview. It may also delay a decision on making an offer of a place if you have not passed your skills tests at the time of interview.
It is very important that you make every effort to take and pass these tests as soon as possible.
School Experience
Admission to the PGCE is very competitive; therefore your application must demonstrate an understanding of the work of the teacher in UK schools today. The majority of applicants satisfy the qualification criteria so the more teaching and observation experience you can obtain, the stronger your application will be. This experience will also form part of the discussion at interview.
You must have observed lessons in the relevant department of a UK state school that teaches the key stages for your specialism for at least two days before you come to any interview.
In order to get observation experience in school, you should write to the Headteacher of your former or local school, or a school with whom you have personal links, outlining your interest in applying for a PGCE course. Schools are normally happy to help. The TA also runs a School Experience Programme that can help with arranging school visits in certain subject areas.
Interviews
If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to attend an interview. You will also receive an interview pack which will include a list of themes/question areas to consider before arrival.
Question areas vary slightly across the subjects, however your selection is dependent on your:
- Personal, social and intellectual qualities
- Communication skills
- Relevant prior experience
- Commitment to teaching
- Subject-related competences
Process
The interview process normally has two stages:
- An initial group meeting between prospective students, a relevant University subject tutor and a teacher from a Partnership School. The tutor will run through details of the course and end with a Q&A session.
- An individual (30 minute) interview.
You will also complete a 'Subject Knowledge Audit' to help identify your subject strengths and weaknesses.
The interview is designed to allow you to demonstrate your commitment to, and suitability for, teaching and is conducted in a supportive and positive atmosphere. If you require any particular support to allow you to access the interview and the attendant tasks, you will be encouraged to tell us this when you are invited to interview.
What to bring with you
- Original GCSE (or equivalent) certificates - if you have lost your GCSE certificates you must get replacement copies from the relevant Examining Board.
- Original degree certificate - if you are still studying for your degree please bring proof of your student status.
If you are made an offer after interview, it will remain conditional until all of the relevant certification has been verified by the ITE office.
Declaration of Health
We actively welcome applications from candidates with disabilities and aim to offer appropriate support for all trainee teachers.
As a provider of initial teacher training, the University is responsible for ensuring that candidates are assessed for their physical and mental fitness to teach. We must also make decisions which are fair and reasonable in relation to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). If there are any health-related issues which might affect your fitness to teach, our Occupational Health practitioners need to know about them so that your case can be considered fully on its individual merits. We therefore ask that you complete a Health Declaration prior to interview, and bring it with you in a named sealed envelope. If we do not make you an offer, this will be shredded unopened. If we decide to make you an offer and you then go on to accept it, the Health Declaration will be passed on to our Medical Centre for review and follow-up as appropriate.
Safeguarding Children
In accordance with legislation to safeguard children and young people, PGCE applicants who are invited to interview will be required to complete a form declaring any criminal convictions, cautions or other penalties. If you are successful at interview, these self-declaration forms will help us to consider your application further. Having a criminal conviction, caution or other penalty will not necessarily prevent you from gaining a PGCE place but declarations will be referred to the university Suitability Assessment Panel (SAP) where necessary. As our school partners expect the University to give such cases very careful consideration, the University will not make any offer of a place until any issues with regard to convictions, cautions or other penalties have been resolved.
If you are made an offer of a place on a PGCE at Bath, the University will check your status with regard to convictions, cautions and other penalties via an Enhanced Disclosure from the DBS. This check needs to be undertaken no more than 3 months before the start of the PGCE programme. All offers of a place on the PGCE course are conditional upon the University’s receipt of a satisfactory DBS check. More information on applying for a Disclosure will be provided if you are made and accept an offer of a PGCE place. View full details on the University’s Policy on the Admission of Students with Criminal Convictions.
