Program Overview

About this course

Our Professional Graduate Diploma in Education, Training and Skills is part of an integrated programme for teachers in the education, training and skills sector such as further education colleges, private sector training providers and offender education. It will develop your knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of teaching, learning and assessment, and teachers’ wider, professional engagement in the sector. It offers a challenging, supportive and rewarding experience to promote informed, reflective and effective teaching and professional development.

The course features five specialist routes, for teachers wishing to specialise either in a particular subject/vocational area, or in English, Mathematics, Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or Computing. It combines teaching practice, academic learning, and personal, professional development. Teaching practice will be undertaken within an arranged placement in order to develop the teaching of your specialist subject. You may be required to travel to this placement using an appropriate mode of transport, which may incur an additional cost. You will be allocated a work-based mentor, who will typically be a professional practitioner with expertise in your subject or a closely allied area.

Throughout the programme, modules are delivered concurrently to your teaching practice, allowing you to make robust connections between theory and practice and develop the habit of reflective evaluation. All modules re-enforce the concept of reflective practice as essential to effective teaching and learning, as well as the personal and professional development within your chosen specialist subject.

The first two modules will introduce you to the learning and skills sector, associated policies and professional expectations. These modules contain tools for you to engage effectively with teaching practice from an early stage in the programme. These include, for example, approaches to and principles of effective planning for teaching and learning, underpinning theories of teaching and learning and the role of assessment in the teaching and learning cycle.

The second half of the programme offers opportunities for deeper exploration of philosophies of teaching, curriculum design and the subject-specific characteristics of teaching and learning in your chosen subject area, whether subject/vocational, Mathematics or English.