iPGCE with iQTS
Become a confident and inspiring school teacher
Become a confident and inspiring school teacher
- Expand your career prospects and opportunities while studying and working anywhere in the world with our iPGCE
- Gain international Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS) which enables you to teach in English schools and is recognised throughout the world
- Taught by highly experienced, expert tutors at a gold-rated university (TEF, 2023) with over 180 years' experience in teacher education
5th
in the UK for Education
Guardian University Guide League Tables 2022
Gold
highest award for teaching excellence
Teaching Excellence Framework 2023
Top 10
in the UK for teaching satisfaction
Guardian University Guide 2023
Overview
Study from anywhere in the world with our newly launched online iPGCE with iQTS programme
The University of Chichester has a distinguished history of delivering successful teacher preparation programmes and our teachers are making a difference in the lives of children and young people in schools around the world.
Building on our extensive experience of working with teachers across the globe, we are now launching a new iPGCE with iQTS programme to meet the needs of potential teachers. International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS) is a new teaching qualification backed by the UK government. iQTS meets the same high standards as English Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and leads to the automatic award of QTS on completion. You can train where you live and work, with no need to visit the UK.
Small group training combining academic study and practical experience
By offering small group online teaching and support, we will provide you with an effective and efficient programme which delivers the high-quality student experience and training for which Chichester is known. Our online provision will enable you to access your teacher education through a mixture of live lectures and seminar meetings, recorded lectures, small-group discussions and challenging practical tasks, so that you can work together with peers and expert subject specialists to extend your knowledge and develop, reflect on and critique practice.
Our iPGCE with iQTS combines academic study and practical experience to deepen your knowledge and understanding of effective teaching and learning and gain 60 Masters level credits that you can take forward into a future MA qualification. You will work with peers and mentors to evaluate and develop your own teaching practice and ensure the very best education for the children or young people that you teach.
You will be taught by colleagues from the Education department at the university who were proud to have been recognised as Outstanding by Ofsted at its most recent inspection of our face-to-face teacher training in May 2023.
Our Ofsted report recognised that “trainees leave very well-placed to continue on their journey towards being aspirational, inspirational and motivational teachers” and that “…trainees flourish at the University of Chichester and develop into skilled and knowledgeable global citizens.”
We have a proud history of education-based courses, having trained teachers here for over 180 years.
The Course
Learn how to become an aspirational, inspirational and motivational teacher
Course structure
The iPGCE with iQTS programme is a 36-week course. From the start, you will spend 4 days a week in your placement school and 1 day a week studying via distance learning. As you reach the end of the course, the time spent studying will reduce to 0.5 days per week.
A typical day of training might consist of 6 hours of activity, for example 3 hours on Professional Studies and 3 hours on Curriculum Studies. The 3 hours of content in each strand might be spent on a range of synchronous or asynchronous activities, for example you may be asked to complete 1 hour of independent reading and reflection tasks, 1 hour of directed asynchronous work (e.g. viewing video materials, completing online tasks, contributing to group tasks) and 1 hour of synchronous contact with a tutor (e.g. online lectures or workshops over Microsoft Teams.
For September 2024, we will be offering the iPGCE with iQTS in the Primary (5-11) and Secondary (11-16) age ranges.
Course content
Our iQTS curriculum is designed by a partnership of experienced teachers, school leaders, subject experts and researchers incorporating the latest research insights. The iQTS curriculum is designed to expand your phase and subject-specific expertise through three focused modules:
This module aims to:
• develop your critical and rigorous understanding of the principles which underpin education including with regard to: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and professional behaviours
• further your systematic knowledge and critical awareness of current issues and debates surrounding education
• expand your knowledge and understanding of the nature of education and children and young people’s developmental needs
• focus on issues of inclusion, equality and diversity and how to apply your knowledge and understanding of such issues in the classroom
Curriculum Studies focuses on subject-specific elements of the curriculum, thus developing your subject expertise and ensuring you understand how theoretical principles and pedagogical knowledge are applied in subject-specific contexts. This module will help you to understand how to apply the latest research and evidence in your subject(s) and age-phase.
Throughout the year, you will spend the majority of your time teaching in the classroom and developing your confidence and competence to teach effectively.
The course is structured to support you to move from teaching small groups of pupils to teaching the curriculum to a whole class.
These placements develop your understanding of progression, inclusion and subject-specific pedagogy. Throughout your placements, you will be supported by a school-based mentor and regularly assessed remotely by a link tutor from the University.
Teaching and Assessment
Innovative teaching methods that develop your full potential as a teacher
The iPGCE with iQTS is an innovative course which emphasises the relationship between theory and practice. Throughout the course you will have all the benefits of training in school while also having access to the wide range of knowledge, resources and support provided online by the university.
Insights from university-led sessions will be consolidated and deepened through placement tasks, including subject-specific activities such as focused observation and deconstruction of activities. Mentors will provide you with subject-specific feedback to develop your subject knowledge and expertise. In turn, placement learning will be deconstructed and strengthened through dialogue and reflection during university-led online sessions.
University-led sessions and tasks are designed to deepen and expand on your prior learning and knowledge of teaching. They will introduce the key concepts that you need to understand with a focus on enhancing pupil learning in each phase and subject and making use of insights from cognitive science. Tasks and group activities will provide opportunities for direct explanation, dialogue and reflection, analysis of classroom activities and micro-teaching activities.
During your placement you will use our online system to record key tasks and activities and will receive regular, brief and clear feedback highlighting the precise aspects of our curriculum that you need to learn, apply or demonstrate. By the end of the programme, this training record will show how well you have met the aims of our curriculum and provide evidence of your performance over time and across all areas of your teaching.
You will also be assessed through academic assignments to demonstrate that you have met the standard required for the award of the iPGCE.
About iQTS
Take the next step towards your career in teaching
International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS) is a teaching qualification backed by the DfE and the UK government. You can find out more about iQTS here.
iQTS is designed to ensure that you meet the same standards as teachers with English qualified teacher status (QTS) and leads to the automatic award of QTS. You will then be able to be employed in schools where QTS is legally required and complete the statutory induction period in the same way that teachers in England do (this can be completed in an DfE accredited British School Overseas or an eligible school in England).
At Chichester, we combine our iQTS programme with an International Postgraduate Certificate of Education (iPGCE), this is an academic qualification awarded by the university that develops your critical and detailed knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning. By studying for the iQTS and iPGCE together, you will develop the skills and knowledge you need to become an excellent classroom teacher. The iPGCE qualification can also help to ensure that your teaching expertise is recognised more widely. After completing the iPGCE, you may use the 60 credits of the iPGCE towards completing a full Masters degree in Education (180 credits) with Chichester.
If you are already certified as a teacher in your country or have extensive experience of teaching, you may prefer to study for the iPGCE alone. This does not provide you with a recognised teaching qualification but is an academic award demonstrating your knowledge and understanding of teaching and pedagogy.
The iPGCE programme without iQTS requires fewer days on school placement and may also be more suitable if you are not able to find a school that can meet all the requirements for iQTS placement.
If you have a teaching qualification from certain countries, you can apply for this to be recognised as equivalent to QTS in England, for more information, please see the DfE website. For experienced teachers from other countries, it may be possible to apply for an Assessment Only route to achieving QTS.
Course Costs
Course Fees 2024/25
iPGCE with iQTS programme
iQTS only
For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fees page.
For further details about international scholarships, please see our Scholarships page.
Entry Requirements
Before applying to the iPGCE programme, you will need to obtain a supporting statement from a school confirming that they will be able to host you for the length of the course. This may be a school that currently employs you or a school where you will be volunteering.
Applicants will require:
- An undergraduate honours degree or equivalent
- To have achieved a standard equivalent to grade 4 in GCSE English and mathematics
- To have achieved a standard equivalent to grade 4 GCSE in a science subject (e.g. biology, chemistry, or physics) if applying for the primary age-phase (age 5 to 11)
- Where relevant, IELTS 6.5 including 6.5 in academic writing with other components no less than 6.5 – or equivalent qualification
- Access to appropriate Information Technology to access the online course resources
- Appropriate safeguarding checks (including International Child Protection Certificate if you have previously lived in the UK)
- Satisfactory references
- Assurance of health and fitness to complete the course
All candidates will need to successfully pass an online interview.
Further course information
Please see the following documents for further information on our iPGCE with iQTS course.
Express your interest
Please complete our initial enquiry form to express your interest in this course.
We will respond to you following receipt of your form, but if you have any specific queries, please contact us at iqts@chi.ac.uk
