PGCE Secondary Business Studies
GTTR code: N1X1
Course starts:: September 2013
Course leader: Lech Wersocki
The Middlesex PGCE Secondary Business Studies course is one year full-time. It equips you to inspire pupils through the use of engaging interactive workshops, lectures and structured debates. You receive personal attention through regular tutor visits to school placements and individual tutorials. Schools are carefully selected to suit individuals and expose them to imaginative and thought provoking teaching and learning strategies.
The course aims to prepare you for the teaching profession. It will:
- Enable you to develop knowledge and understanding of pupils and their learning
- Develop your expertise in highly specialised professional skills in a context where you'll need to exercise initiative and take personal responsibility for decision making in complex and unpredictable situations
- Equip you with the pedagogic knowledge, understanding and skills to teach effectively across the 14-19 age range
- Develop your knowledge and understanding of the Secondary Business Studies curriculum
- Enable you to understand, critically evaluate and respond to the needs of children in multicultural, multilingual and multifaith settings and schools in an international, urban environment.
Two thirds (120 days) of the PGCE Secondary Business Studies course will be on placement. We have excellent relationships with schools in north London, Essex and Hertfordshire and many of our graduates go on to work in their first teaching job at the schools where they had a placement.
In 2012, the secondary teacher training programmes at Middlesex were rated Good with Outstanding Features (by Ofsted), an excellent result for a large and diverse provider of teacher training.
Alpa Kalyan
PGCE Business Studies
I chose to apply to PGCE Business Studies at Middlesex because they were one of the few universities in London that provide a wide range of subjects such as Business Studies. They also have experienced professionals who guide you throughout the course. The course was everything I thought it was going to be; my programme leader for Business Studies was fantastic and a great support to me and my peers on the course. Choosing to do a PGCE Business Studies at Middlesex University was one of the best decisions I have made.
Modules
Subject studies: A structured programme of subject teaching methodology and application workshops and seminars.
School-based studies: You are required to spend two-thirds (120 days) of the programme in school. We have developed a partnership scheme with 150 participating secondary schools situated throughout the North London boroughs, Essex and Hertfordshire. In each school you will be assigned a personal mentor who is a subject teacher. You will experience two consecutive secondary school placements. The objective of the school experience is to develop your generic and subject teaching skills to at least the level of competence expected of a newly qualified teacher.
Professional studies: This is a programme of lectures and seminars focusing on contemporary issues in education and professional development. This part of the programme takes place partly at the University and partly at school by lectures, workshops and seminars to mixed subject groups.
Subject studies are assessed by a portfolio of coursework and a school-based special study (a teaching resource). Progressive developments of teaching skills are recorded using criteria referenced assessment proforma. Professional studies are assessed by a range of written tasks. Observation of the students, teaching and evaluative discussions with course tutors and school based mentors and teachers.
You will find this an intensive 36-week, five-days-a-week programme, during which you will also have directed work to carry out during the Christmas and Easter holiday periods.
After you complete the course, you can gain QTS following a successful probationary period as an employee in a school, combined with the Training and Development Agency (TDA) tests in numeracy, literacy and ICT.
The programme complies fully with the current requirements of the Training and Development Agency.
Modules
Studies in your Specialist Subject (two modules, see individual subject descriptions for details, includes Professional Studies)
You will develop the knowledge and skills required to teach your chosen subject. You will be able to identify and evaluate effective strategies for assessing children's learning in the selected subject, through formative and summative assessment strategies. You will critically evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of resources and your own lesson plans. You will understand the importance of literacy, numeracy and ICT in delivering an effective curriculum and as transferable skills. You will analyse research data and critically evaluate how research has contributed to the knowledge and understanding of how to teach your subject effectively.
School Experience 1
Through this School Experience, you will apply the knowledge, understanding and skills you have gained through study, to practical situations. Your experience will develop your powers of organisation and methods of control. You will develop your ability to plan, implement and evaluate schemes of work and lesson plans. You will also identify targets to be achieved in the second placement. You will consider the school as an organisation and discern the various roles of the teacher. You will monitor the lessons and activities that school students experience in a school day and work alongside subject specialists in a learning partnership role.
School Experience 2
You will be advised of your second placement at the end of placement 1. You will be assessed by Subject Mentors to determine your readiness and confidence. You will then be introduced to your classes and take a few days for class observation. You will be required to maintain a Trainee’s Progression File. Your Subject Mentor will review this file during their day visit, during which time they will also observe you at work and develop a suitable work timetable. You will do approximately 60% of the contact time of a qualified teacher. Some time will also be reserved for limited observation of teachers of other subjects outside your own specialism.
You can find more information about this course in the programme specification
Fees
For PGCE Secondary Business Studies, the tuition fee UK/EU students is £9,000.
For PGCE Secondary Business Studies, the tuition fee for non-EU students is £10,600.
Find out about our flexible payment plans for UK/EU students, and how they can help you spread the cost of your course.
Entry Requirements
You need a first degree in a related subject at 2:2 or above. You are also required to have qualifications in English and mathematics equivalent to GCSE grade C.
We also require you to have completed at least two weeks in a Secondary school setting in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland prior to applying.
International Entry Requirements
We accept the equivalent of the above from a recognised overseas qualification. To find out more about the requirements from your country, see further information under support in your country. For details of other equivalent requirements that Middlesex accepts see entry requirements.
English language requirements for international students
You must have competence in English language and we normally require Grade C GCSE or an equivalent qualification. The most common English Language requirements for international students are IELTS 7.0 (with minimum 6.0 in all four components) or TOEFL internet based 87 (with at least 21 in listening & writing, 22 in speaking and 23 in reading).
Middlesex also offers an Intensive Academic English course (Pre-Sessional) that ranges from 5-17 weeks depending on your level of English. Successful completion of this course would meet English language entry requirements.
Application Procedure
Application and interview process
Applications should be made to GTTR – the Graduate Teacher Training Registry. The institution code for Middlesex is M80, and the code name is MIDDX. You also need the code for the course you wish to apply for – this is N1X1.
Our admission team will then consider your application, and we will contact you to inform you whether you have been shortlisted.- If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to attend an interview. Invites will be sent by email, so please check your email account regularly, including the spam folders.
- If you are successful at interview, you will then be offered a place on the course subject to academic, health and police check requirements.
Prior to commencing the course, you must pass Teaching Agency professional skills tests in numeracy and literacy. You are advised to pass them wherever possible before your interview. If you haven’t passed at the time of the interview and you receive an offer it will be conditional on passing the tests by a nominated date. When you receive a conditional offer for a place (subject to passing the skills tests), this offer will include a date by which you will have passed the tests set out in your offer letter. Typically this date will be one month after your interview date but could vary according to the time of year and the programme you are applying for. You can find out more and book for the skills tests on the Department for Education website.
Careers
Our Careers Service offers you a range of support both while you’re studying with us – and after you’ve graduated.
Placements
Work placements are integral to the PGCE Secondary Business Studies degree. Our course is well-known for having a strong and committed partnership with local schools, whose mentors and class teachers train with the University. As a student, you will have the opportunity for rich and varied placements in the multilingual, multicultural and multifaith schools.