PGCE Offer Holders

The autumn term course starts on Monday 08 September 2025 and we have recently sent out Primary Day 1 Information to all primary trainees due to start.

You should expect to attend the St Luke's campus five days per week (Mon-Fri) for taught sessions during the autumn term.

The November four-week placement will take place during 10 November  - 04 December where you will be required to attend your school setting each weekday.

In early September you will receive a welcome message from the PGCE team and further details on the arrangements for the first day of the taught course on Monday 08 September. A timetable for the term will then be provided during the first week. 

For term dates for the whole year, please see Term dates.

For information on parking at the St Luke's campus and the surrounding area please see https://www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/car-parking/permits/exeter/ or contact the Car Parking team on carparking@exeter.ac.uk

The autumn term course starts on Monday 15 September 2025 and we have recently sent out PGCE Secondary Day 1 Information to all secondary trainees due to start.

The timetable for the secondary PGCE programme will be different according to your subject. You will be notified of precise timings at the start of the term. However, you should anticipate that you will need to be on campus 2 days per week for taught sessions during the autumn term (3 days per week if you are on the Biology with PE programme) as well as engaging in online timetabled sessions and independent learning outside of these days.  The four-week placement will take place during 10 November - 05 December and you will be required to attend your school setting each weekday.

 A timetable for the term will then be provided during the first week.   If for childcare or other reasons, you need more specific information about your expected timetable, you may wish to contact your subject leader (if you need contact details the Info at St Luke’s team (info.stlukes@exeter.ac.uk) can provide these).

For term dates for the whole year, please see Term dates.

 For information on parking on campus and the surrounding area please see https://www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/car-parking/permits/exeter/  or contact the Car Parking team on carparking@exeter.ac.uk

The PGCE Primary programme includes the following periods of school-based work.  They are:

*there may be local variations to these dates, particularly with Dorset schools where the spring placement 2 may end a week earlier and the summer placement may start a week earlier.  Exact dates will be provided by your placement schools once you are on the course.

In addition, there are twenty Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) days focussing on four themes of teaching and learning, enabling you to delve deeply into particular key areas.  Each group of 5 days focuses on a theme and is a mix of St Luke's campus-based university-led sessions and school-based practice in your placement schools.

There are also two St Luke's campus-based seminar days on 06 March 2026 and 10 July 2026.

The PGCE Secondary programme includes the following periods of school-based work: 

*there may be local variations to these dates, particularly with Dorset schools where the spring placement 2 may end a week earlier and the summer placement may start a week earlier.  Exact dates will be provided by your placement schools once you are on the course.

In addition, there are twenty Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) days focussing on four themes of teaching and learning, enabling you to delve deeply into particular key areas.  Each group of 5 days focuses on a theme and is a mix of St Luke's campus-based university-led sessions and school-based practice in your placement schools.

There is also a further seminar day on St Luke's campus on 10 July.

The Partnership Office will ask you to provide details about your circumstances and placement preferences to help them when allocating your placements.  We aim to advise trainees of their placement schools by the end of July. If your circumstances change after you have submitted your information, please do inform the Partnership Office (exeterpartner@exeter.ac.uk) as soon as possible.

Please see Placement FAQs for more information about the placement allocation process.‌

We offer a contribution to some of the travel and accommodation costs that PGCE trainees may incur as a result of the structure of the training year.  The policy is available on the School of Education website here. Please read the policy carefully to see what it does and doesn’t cover.  If you have any questions about this policy in advance of starting the programme, please contact the Info at St Luke’s team on info.stlukes@exeter.ac.uk.

Fundamental Skills Audits

All trainees need to demonstrate a certain level of English and mathematics by the end of the course before QTS can be awarded.  This is a DfE requirement.  To start this process, please download the following two audit documents and spend as much time as you can developing and improving your English and mathematics skills before the course starts.  

Fundamental Skills English Audit
Fundamental Skills Maths Audit

Please keep these completed documents safe as your tutor will discuss the outcomes of your audits with you in the first weeks of the taught course and you will be asked to upload them to your electronic portfolio.  There will be plenty of opportunities during the course for you to work on any areas you identify as needing improvement.

Please download the following document relevant to the primary course you have chosen:

Primary 5-11 PGCE - Intro to the Primary Curriculum and Initial Needs Analyses
or
Primary 3-7 PGCE - Intro to the Primary Curriculum and Initial Needs Analyses

This is an introduction to all the curriculum subjects you will be learning to teach.  It also includes an initial needs analysis for each curriculum area in order for you to identify what you do not know or have forgotten so that you can revise/brush up on and complete some self-study exercises.  It also includes some suggested reading.  Please make sure you complete all the audits - you will be asked to upload them to your electronic portfolio at the beginning of the course.

Fundamental Skills Audits

All trainees need to demonstrate a certain level of English and mathematics by the end of the course before QTS can be awarded.  This is a DfE requirement.  To start this process, please download the following two audit documents and spend as much time as you can developing and improving your English and mathematics skills before the course starts.   

Fundamental Skills English Audit
Fundamental Skills Maths Audit
‌‌
Please keep these completed documents safe as your tutor will discuss the outcomes of your audits with you in the first weeks of the taught course and you will be asked to upload them to your electronic portfolio.  There will be plenty of opportunities during the course for you to work on any areas you identify as needing improvement.

Please click on the relevant link below to access subject-specific pre-course tasks, recommended reading and general information relating to your subject:

‌‌Secondary English Information and Tasks

Secondary Geography Information and Tasks

Secondary History Information and Tasks
Secondary History - Progression in History under the 2014 National Curriculum

Secondary Mathematics Information and Tasks
Secondary Mathematics - Subject Knowledge Audit

Secondary MFL Information and Tasks
Secondary MFL - Eurydice explanation of the English education system
Secondary MFL - History of Education in England - part 1
Secondary MFL - History of Education in England - part 2
Secondary MFL - French, German & Spanish GCCSE subject content

Secondary PE Information and Tasks
Secondary PE - Appendix A (Example of an Abstract)

Secondary Science Information and Tasks
Secondary Science - Reading 1 (Lemke)
Secondary Science - Reading 2 (Willingham)
Secondary Science - Reading 3 (Archer)

Many trainees ask for advice on useful reading prior to beginning the course. Your main subject tutor will advise you on subject-related reading. The following books have been suggested by tutors and represent a range of views on educational issues. The list includes some more accessible texts, while others are quite ‘heavyweight’. All are relevant to the course that you are about to follow. Select from these titles, depending on your interests. 

Alexander, R. (2020) A Dialogic Teaching Companion. Oxford: Routledge.

Capel, S., and Leask, M. (Eds). (2019) Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A companion to school experience 8th Edition. London: Routledge

Kyriacou, C (2018) Essential Teaching Skills (5^th Edition). Oxford: OUP.

Sherrington, T (2022) Teaching WalkThrus 3: Five-step guides to instructional coaching. Hatchette UK

Wilson, E. (2017) School-based Research: A Guide for Education Students (3rd Edition). London: Sage.

If you have a physical disability or specific learning difficulty you are advised to complete a Wellbeing Services prospective student questionnaire before you start your PGCE programme.  Further details and the questionnaire can be found here. We strongly advise you to return this questionnaire as soon as you can so that the Wellbeing Services team can support you.

[Please note the prospective student questionnaire is different from the online PGCE Health Assessment form all PGCE applicants must complete as part of the mandatory fitness to teach assessment process.  Completed PGCE Health Assessment forms are sent to the University’s Occupational Health Assessment provider who will consider whether any reasonable adjustments are required as a result of your health, particularly in relation to your teaching placements.]  

Once registered with the Wellbeing Services team, they will, where appropriate, draw up an Individual Learning Plan with you.  This is an important document as it will inform the School of Education of any particular adjustments we need to make for you (for example, if you have dyslexia and want this to be taken into consideration when your assignments are marked or if you have a physical disability and require assistive equipment or software or if you would benefit from extensions for your summative assignments).

Students with a disability or specific learning difficulty may be eligible for the Disabled Students Allowance. This is an allowance that pays for the additional costs that can be incurred as a result a person’s health or disability, including specialist equipment. Please let the Wellbeing Services team know if you would like to discuss this in more depth. There is also more information at https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas/overview.

For more information on the services and support available from Wellbeing Services, please see https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/.

Students who experience mental health conditions may be entitled to additional support and reasonable adjustments when studying at the University of Exeter.

If you have experienced mental health difficulties you are advised to complete a Wellbeing Services prospective student questionnaire before you start your PGCE programme.  Further details and the questionnaire can be found here.  We strongly advise you to return this questionnaire as soon as you can so that the Wellbeing team can contact you to discuss your health in relation to your course in more depth.

[Please note the prospective student questionnaire is different from the online PGCE Health Assessment form all PGCE applicants must complete as part of the mandatory fitness to teach assessment process. Completed PGCE Health Assessment forms are sent to the University’s Occupational Health Assessment provider who will consider whether any reasonable adjustments are required as a result of your health, particularly in relation to your teaching placements].

Support from the Wellbeing Service mental health pathway can include considering how your health may impact on your ability to study during the taught, university-based part of the PGCE course, and what support may be available to you. Support can include ongoing mental health support and an Individual Learning Plan (ILP), which informs the School of Education of any particular adjustments that may need to be considered, as a result of your health, while studying and based at university during the taught part of the course.

Students who have experienced mental health difficulties can also be eligible for the Disabled Students Allowance. This is an allowance that pays for the additional costs that can be incurred as a result a person’s health or disability, including equipment and mental health mentoring support. Please let us know if you would like to discuss this in more depth. There is also more information available at:  https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas/overview.

The Wellbeing Service also offers a range of workshops and groups, and individual support for students experiencing personal, emotional and psychological difficulties. For more information about this or the support offered by the Wellbeing Service mental health pathway please email: wellbeing@exeter.ac.uk, Telephone: 01392 724381 or see our webpages: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/