You can be confident that you will be gaining the skills and experience you need to pursue a career in the education sector. Our strong links with schools, local authorities and professional bodies ensures that you receive current and relevant training.
We align our courses to the real world and prepare you for the workplace by:
- working closely with local schools and other partners to feed their input into our programmes
- integrating employability skills into our courses
- adapting and refreshing our curriculum to reflect current issues and trends in education
- providing opportunities for you to work directly with education practitioners
If you take part in our postgraduate teacher training courses you will spend 120 days based in schools, predominantly one ‘home school’. Working in a school gives you hands-on experience, insight into your role and the chance to engage in the day-to-day interactions within the school environment.
Our close ties with a wide range of organisations and learning providers within the education sector means that you’ll have access to excellent placements and potential networking opportunities.
Our Education and Early Childhood Studies programmes, for example, provide extensive work-related learning opportunities including an option to take part in a placement abroad, such as Germany or Nepal. Some of our Education Studies courses give you the chance to work with children in a variety of settings such as at a Steiner School, a Montessori School or a Forest School in Wales, as well as in mainstream schools and with early years providers. Our Education Studies and Special and Inclusive Needs programme offers a range of interesting work placements, including Everton Sure Start Centre, Broadgreen International School, Sandfield Park, Children and Adult Mental Health Services, Alder Hey Hospital and Claire House. For further information on the placement opportunities of specific courses, please see the course factfiles.
Our University-led teacher trainees are placed in our partner schools within the local region. You will gain your teaching experience primarily in a ‘home school’ with a six week placement in an ‘alternative’ school. You’ll spend around 120 days on placement in schools, being introduced to professional teaching practice by an experienced mentor. You’ll develop skills in planning for learning, organising learners, behaviour management, assessing learning and working with others through a phased training programme. The School Direct route, on the other hand, offers trainees a more school-centred approach with substantial time spent in schools and the majority of training organised by teachers at our partner schools. You can find out more about our teacher training programmes and the training options available to you by taking a look at our routes into teaching section.
All of our initial teacher education programmes are accredited by the National College of Teaching and Leadership and students who successfully complete our PGDE programmes graduate with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), the essential accreditation for anyone who wants to teach in state-maintained and special schools in England and Wales.
The School’s academic team is made up of successful teachers and other education specialists who maintain strong links with schools, local authorities, national CPD networks and professional bodies to ensure you receive the most up-to-date training, gain varied professional experience and insights into the field, and forge useful contacts within the sector.
We have a growing international reputation through a range of successful projects delivered in collaboration with universities and education providers in Sweden, Poland, Greece and Singapore.
Our careers service offers a wide range of resources to help you plan your next step, both while you are at university and after you graduate.
We offer in-depth careers advice and guidance, a My Jobs & Placements website for placements and graduate jobs, opportunities to meet and engage with employers and an extensive programme of careers and employability workshops, all designed to help you get the job you want.
Find out more about how our careers service can help you.
Career preparation for trainee teachers
The School of Education organises a “Get That Job Day” which helps prepare trainee teachers for upcoming job interviews. Along with CV and interview preparation, the day also includes an opportunity for trainee teachers to be interviewed and evaluated by schoolchildren. Pupils from a local school are invited to prepare their own questions for the trainee teachers and based on their responses are asked to evaluate them. Previous trainees have enjoyed the event and appreciated the valuable feedback they received.
The Centre for Entrepreneurship has been helping students and alumni get their business ideas off the ground since 2003. The Centre can help you with funding, networking, as well as business, legal and financial advice. Find out more about the type of support on offer at the Centre for Entrepreneurship.