Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) PGDE
Awards: PGDE
Accreditation
Funding opportunities
Placements/internships
Programme website: Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)
At Moray House going to conferences and learning together has been especially rewarding. You are shown a world of possibilities for what teachers can do and be.
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The Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) Secondary is for graduates who want to become subject-specialist teachers in the secondary sector. This programme is the Scottish route to qualified teacher status.
This is an intensive programme of study, divided equally between University-based and school-based activities.
The programme is designed to prepare you for the range of roles that teachers are expected to play:
- A competent, reflective classroom practitioner
- A collaborator who contributes to the wider informal curriculum of the school
- A subject specialist and a curriculum developer
- A teacher in society, whether building strong relationships with parents or contributing to national policy debates
You will develop the capacity to become a transformative teacher, making a positive impact on the outcomes of learners, with the capacity to become a future leader in the profession. To this end, we focus on teaching student teachers to use their powerful subject knowledge to create interesting, relevant and progressive teaching.
We currently offer our secondary programme in the following subjects:
- Art and Design
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Design and Technology
- Drama
- English
- Geography
- History
- Mathematics
- Modern Foreign Languages (Chinese, French, German)
- Music
- Physical Education
- Physics
Dual Qualification status
Dual qualification means that a teacher is qualified to teach two different subject areas within schools, such as History and English, or Mathematics and Physics.
We welcome applications for dual subject qualification and can accommodate many dualities. Simply make your application for the first subject area and state on the form that you have an interest in dual qualification.
Please contact the Programme Director for further information about dual qualification.
Accreditation
Graduates are qualified to teach and eligible for provisional registration from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). Eligible graduates may join the Teacher Induction Scheme, a guaranteed, paid one-year probationary teaching post, or take up a Flexible Route.
This programme is comprised of three blocks. Each block contains a balance between University-based and school-based activities.
Campus activities will include lectures and workshops, with a focus on student-centred learning in a multidisciplinary setting.
Professional Placements in schools include observation and analysis of teaching and learning, through to developing and implementing your own teaching practice. Students address classroom knowledge and skills; and experience of planning, managing, organising, assessing and evaluating pupil learning and taking on the role of a class teacher for increasing periods of time.
Find out more about compulsory and optional courses
We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.*
Award | Duration | Study mode | Indicative programme structure | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Art and Design 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Biology 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Chemistry 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Chinese 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Design and Technology 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Drama 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE English 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE French 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Geography 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE German 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE History 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Mathematics 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Music 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Physical Education 2020 | |||
PGDE | 9 Months | Full-time | PGDE Physics 2020 |
(*Revised 22 October 2020 to include indicative programme structures.)
Combining campus-based courses taught at Moray House and experiential Professional Placements undertaken in schools, this programme provides an excellent foundation for an impactful career in education.
Professional Placement courses address classroom knowledge and skills; and experience of planning, managing, organising, assessing and evaluating pupil learning and taking on the role of a class teacher for increasing periods of time.
Professional Placements constitute approximately half of the programme, with students being allocated a placement within one of six key local authorities.
Graduates from this programme are qualified to teach, and eligible for provisional registration from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).
On successful completion of this programme, students are recommended to contact the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) for provisional registration. Full registration is awarded on the completion of one satisfactory year of teaching the subject(s) for which qualification has been gained through this programme.
Eligibility for Teacher Induction Scheme
Students from Scotland, other parts of the UK (RUK) and other Member States of the European Union, who are studying at a Scottish Higher Education Institution are eligible to join the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS), a guaranteed and paid one-year probationary teaching post, organised by the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
Preference Waiver Payment Scheme
If you join the General Teaching Council’s Preference Waiver Payment Scheme - which means you agree to work in any Scottish local authority for your induction post - in return, you will receive an £8,000 payment made if you complete your Teacher Induction Scheme year in the local authority to which you were allocated.
A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in the subject to be taught is preferred. This qualification should contain at least two graduating courses (80 UK credits) in the relevant subject.
You should also hold SQA Higher English at minimum grade C or GCSE English Language AND GCSE English Literature, both passed at grade C/4 or above, and National 5 Mathematics or Applications of Mathematics at minimum grade C or equivalent qualifications – please contact the admissions office for advice.
Selection involves a professional interview.
We also expect you to have experience of working with children in formal or informal settings (both employment and volunteering roles will be considered) and an ability to reflect thoughtfully on that experience. You should have some knowledge and understanding of the Scottish curriculum. (Revised 18th November 2020)
Protecting Vulnerable Groups
All successful applicants will be required to join Disclosure Scotland's Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme before starting the programme. In addition, all applicants who don't live in the UK, or who have spent more than a year abroad, will need to provide equivalent verification from the relevant national authority.
International qualifications
Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:
English language requirements
You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.
English language tests
For 2021 entry we will accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:
- IELTS: total 6.5 (at least 6.0 in each module)
- TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition): total 92 (at least 20 in each module). We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
- CAE and CPE: total 176 (at least 169 in each module)
- Trinity ISE: ISE II with a distinction in all four components
Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL or Trinity ISE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.
Degrees taught and assessed in English
We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:
We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries.
If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.
Find out more about our language requirements:
Tuition fee status
Tuition fees for eligible students from Scotland or a non-UK European Union country are paid by Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). Check your fee status to see whether you are eligible.
Tuition fees
For tuition fee purposes, the PGDE is treated in the same way as an undergraduate programme.
Featured funding
STEM Teacher Education Bursary
Applications are open for a £20,000 incentive for career changers to ease the transition from paid employment into Initial Teacher Education. For eligibility and to apply, visit:
Other funding opportunities
Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:
- Admissions
- Phone: +44 (0)131 650 3565
- Contact: College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Undergraduate Admissions Office
- Programme Director, Dr Mary Bovill
- Phone: +44 (0)131 651 4837
- Contact: mary.bovill@ed.ac.uk
- Moray House School of Education and Sport
- Old Moray House
- Holyrood Campus
- Edinburgh
- EH8 8AQ
- Programme: Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)
- School: Education and Sport (Moray House)
- College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
- Prospectus: Education and Sport prospectus (PDF)
Applying
Applications are submitted through UCAS. Information on how to apply is available on the UCAS website. Apply through UCAS:
- Art and Design - W1X1
- Biology - C1X1
- Chemistry - F1X1
- Design and Technology - J9X1
- Drama - W4X1
- English - Q3X1
- Geography - F8X1
- History - V1X1
- Mathematics - G1X1
- Modern Languages: French - R1X1
- Modern Languages: German - R2X1
- Modern Languages: Chinese - T1X1
- Music - W3X1
- Physical Education - X9C6
- Physics - F3X1
Start date: August
Awards: PGDE
We encourage you to apply at least one month prior to entry so that we have enough time to process your application. If you are also applying for funding or will require a visa then we strongly recommend you apply as early as possible.
As this programme is for initial teacher education, it is processed by the Undergraduate Admissions Office.
Applications must be made through the UCAS website:
For more information on entry requirements and guidance on writing your personal statement, see our web pages on the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education:
We do not accept applications for deferred entry to this programme.
Further information
- Admissions
- Phone: +44 (0)131 650 3565
- Contact: College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Undergraduate Admissions Office
- Programme Director, Dr Mary Bovill
- Phone: +44 (0)131 651 4837
- Contact: mary.bovill@ed.ac.uk
- Moray House School of Education and Sport
- Old Moray House
- Holyrood Campus
- Edinburgh
- EH8 8AQ
- Programme: Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)
- School: Education and Sport (Moray House)
- College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
- Prospectus: Education and Sport prospectus (PDF)