Early Years & Primary PGCE
Welcome to the Early Years and Primary Postgraduate Certificate of Education course at the University of Cambridge. The University’s Faculty of Education is recognised as a provider of excellent training and education for teachers in the 3-11 age range, recruiting high quality trainees from differing backgrounds, cultures and contexts, and is rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted.
Trainees studying on the Early Years Course complete substantial placements in both the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, with opportunities for nursery placements for trainees with a personal interest in working with younger children.
Trainees studying on the Primary Course follow either:
- a 5-9 specialist option with substantial placements in Key Stages 1 and 2
- a 7-11 specialist option with substantial placements in Key Stage 2 and a short placement in Key Stage 1.
At the start of September all Early Years and Primary trainees complete one week's experience in a primary school of their choice before starting the Faculty-based course. This experience is normally undertaken in the trainee's home area. It is an important part of the PGCE course and information from it feeds into Faculty sessions and an early written task.
Our Aims
The Early Years and Primary PGCE M-level course aims to educate high quality teachers who are likely to positively influence development of early years and primary education in this country. The course is designed to meet the needs of those wishing to educate children in either the Early Years or in the Primary phase of schooling. It is the intention of all involved to provide a high quality course, with written work examined at Masters level, which enables trainees to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and which requires an understanding of research, theory and practice in order that they can apply their understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy and skills across a variety of classroom settings throughout their career. The course encourages trainees to continue to become reflective practitioners, learning and developing throughout their professional lives in order that they become not only leaders in their classroom but also future leaders of schools, colleagues and wider educational communities.
The course is built around a long-standing and strong partnership with schools. The Faculty and school contributions to the course are interwoven to enable trainees to gain knowledge, skills and understanding in the most appropriate setting.
We aim to educate teachers who are not only capable of operating effectively within the present system but who are capable of moving that system forward. To achieve this, opportunities for critical evaluation and reflection are embedded throughout the course. We aim to encourage imagination, creativity, innovation and independence in our trainees, providing a sufficiently secure base from which they and their pupils can become ‘risk-takers’.