Placements

"Really enjoying living in and exploring the South West" - Primary Teaching and Learning trainee

“I have had a fantastic year and feel that I have the best possible training behind me as I start my first post in September!" - Secondary MFL trainee

“The pedagogical and personal support offered to trainees is excellent. We have been consistently impressed” – Secondary Partnership School

Our partnerships with schools provide exceptional opportunities for your professional practice. You will be working within at least two schools during the course and all our partner schools have specially trained mentors who will assist you in learning to teach. These colleagues are essential to your development as a teacher and will help you to develop both classroom skills and reflective and evaluative strategies. We have a dedicated Partnership Office who coordinate placements, train school staff and develop and maintain our school partnership relationships. Together with schools, we will provide you with opportunities, training, and support.

During placements, you will benefit from the focussed support of two School-based Tutors: a Lead Mentor who works as an expert partner, and Reflective Mentor who will develop and challenge your thinking about teaching in ways that can be used to enhance performance. You will also have a University Visiting Tutor (UVT) who will support your progress and visit you in each of your school placements.

Primary Placements

Term 1 is spent on campus in Exeter (you will generally need to be on campus each day, Monday to Friday) except for 2 weeks in November which you will spend in your first placement school to begin your classroom practice. Most of Term 2 is spent in the first placement school with three university-led seminar days back on campus. The end of Term 2 and the whole of Term 3 is spent in the second placement school with two university-led seminar days back on campus.

We work with many schools that are commutable distance from Exeter (within 1 hour drive), and also have some Partner Schools in our other areas including North Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall. You will be asked to specify your area preferences prior to the course starting so that these can be taken into account. Trainees wishing to be based in Exeter are usually all able to be placed within commutable distance.

There is also the opportunity to apply for a London Partner School for the summer placement, more information is provided about this once you start the course.

Secondary Placements

Term 1 is spent on campus in Exeter except for 2 weeks in November which you will spend in your first placement school to begin your classroom practice. During Term 1 you will generally spend 2-3 days per week on campus with independent/directed study for the rest of the week. Most of Term 2 is spent in your first placement school with three university-led seminar days back on campus. The end of Term 2 and the whole of Term 3 is spent in your second placement school with two university-led seminar days back on campus.

Trainees generally either live in Exeter for the Autumn term, then move or commute to the area their placements will be in for the Spring/Summer terms. Or they commute to Exeter from their home for the Autumn term and then have placements nearer to their home location in the Spring/Summer terms.

We work with partnership schools in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset. You will be asked to specify your area preferences prior to the course starting and we will do our best to place you in schools that match your area preferences. If your home location is Dorset or you prefer to be placed in Dorset, you can apply to that specific location. We have a good supply of placements across the Dorset area and will provide you with placements in this region, where possible.

Placements are of a consistently high quality. Trainees welcome the length of time that they have in each of their contrasting placement schools and the opportunity to craft their skills of teaching. As trainees become more experienced, their analysis of pupils’ learning becomes more detailed, instinctive and timely within lessons.

Trainees, therefore, become highly skilled at critically reflecting on their own teaching and the impact it has on pupils’ learning