Program Overview

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Key details

Start date(s)

• September 2025

Study Mode

• Full-time (1 year)

Location

• Main Campus (Horsforth)

School

• Education

Course modules

Year 1

Stage One - Introduction to Teaching

From September to December, you'll complete three months of integrated training, in which you’ll build up to spending four days a week in your stage one school. The other days will be spent learning with your peers, in order to support you in becoming a skilful teacher who is an pedagogy expert in your subject area.

Stage Two – Developing your Knowledge, Understanding and Practice

From January to March, you’ll start a second placement in a different school for stage two. Ongoing support from, and fortnightly training days at University will continue until the end of Stage 2. This stage includes targeted support and training to help you secure your first teaching job, alongside the development of your teaching skills.

Stage Three - Embedding your Skills and Preparing you for your New Career

From May to July, you'll continue to teach in the same school as for stage 2. At this point in the programme, you begin to take much more ownership of your classes. Embedding the skills you have learned in the first two stages you will begin to take on more teaching and only have a small amount of taught University training days.

Learning and teaching

Assessment methods

Our strategy

At the end of each placement, your school mentor, who will have supported you throughout your time in school, will assess your practice, using evidence from the whole of your time in school, including observations, lesson plans and marked work.

You’ll complete a progress portfolio to collate evidence of your teaching practice. At the end of the course, we will use this evidence to show that you have met the Teachers’ Standards.

You’ll also complete two level 7 Master’s assignments to test your ability to be critically reflective and research-led in your approach to teaching.

Learning and teaching

At Leeds Trinity, we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

• high quality teaching
• an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
• a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

• Student Involvement and Engagement
• Inclusion
• Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
• Digital Literacy and Skills
• Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential, we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

• Personalised support
• Expert lecturers
• Strong connections with employers
• An international outlook
• Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Entry requirements

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.

• A good honours degree (usually a 2:2 or above) with a significant proportion in Modern Foreign Languages. Please note that applicants with third-class honours degrees will be considered on an individual basis, and normally only if applicants have additional qualifications and/or significant relevant professional experience.
• GCSE Grade 4 (or C or accepted equivalent) in English Language or English Literature and Mathematics. If you do not already have the appropriate GCSEs, or if you are unable to provide proof of your grades, please refer to the GCSE Equivalency information below.
• The ability to read effectively and communicate clearly and accurately in spoken and written standard English.
• Suitable personal and intellectual qualities required for teaching in secondary schools.
• Applicants also need to demonstrate the commitment, attitudes and values appropriate to those of a secondary teacher and the potential to train as a teacher. Strong applicants often have experience in secondary schools, but this is not a requirement.

Applicants who require sponsorship for a student visa will also need to meet the English language requirements.

• Minimum English Language entry requirements: IELTS Academic 6.0 (with no less than 5.5 in any component) or equivalent

You do not need to provide evidence of your English Language if any of the following conditions apply:

• You're a UK national
• You're a national from a majority English-speaking country as specified by the UKVI. For more information, visit the Student Visa Knowledge of English page on the UK government website.
• You've completed a degree either in the UK or in a majority English-speaking country as specified by the UKVI.

If your qualification isn't in English, we will require a translation.

For more information on meeting English language requirements and academic requirements by country, visit our International Applicants page.

Additional entry requirements

In addition to the above essential entry requirements, successful applicants also tend to have:

• Advanced level qualifications (or equivalent) in Modern Foreign Languages.
• Experience of observing the teaching in a secondary school in this country.

You will also need to meet additional entry requirements set by the Department for Education (DfE) for selection. This includes the completion of a health check and a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. For further information, please visit our Initial Teacher Training additional entry requirements page.

Interview information

If your initial application is successful, we will invite you to the next available Interview Day. For more information on the interview process, visit our PGCE Secondary Education interviews page.

GCSE Equivalency

If you do not already have the appropriate GCSEs, or if you are unable to provide proof of your grades, we can accept GCSE equivalency tests taken with A Star Equivalency, equivalencytesting.com or Birmingham City University (BCU) Further details are emailed to applicants who accept offers with us.

Fees and finance

Funding

For information about our tuition fees, please visit our Student Fees and Finance pages.

How to apply

Apply through the Department for Education (Apply for teacher training - GOV.UK (

You will need to create an account to apply and when you apply you can make four choices and you should complete all sections of the application in full.

You can search for the course you want to apply for by searching by location or course provider and then by subject. Find postgraduate teacher training courses - GOV.UK (

There's no set deadline, but when the course is full it will show as having no vacancies on the DfE Apply site.

Applicants who require a Student Route Visa

Our PGCE Modern Foreign Languages programme with German is now closed to applicants who require a Student Route Visa for September 2025 entry. Applications for September 2026 entry open in early October.

If you require a Student Route Visa in order to study in the UK, then you must apply to us before March 2025. You must also meet all the conditions of your offer and present all supporting documentation required for the visa application no later than the date on your offer letter.

What happens next?

Updates on your application will be provided through your DfE application.

If you receive an offer

You will receive information about the offer conditions and deadlines from our Admissions team.

Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS)

Achieve an additional qualification alongside your PGCE with the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies.

Although the CCRS isn't compulsory, it is recognised across the Catholic school sector as a desirable qualification that can expand on both your expertise and your vocational focus. The course aims to ensure you have the basic knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the beliefs and principles of the Catholic Faith while providing a basis for further study.