PGCE M Post Graduate Certificate in Education (M) 14+ Teaching Learners with Additional Needs
Do you wish to support learners with additional needs and help them achieve their potential? If you have a bachelor’s degree, this Master’s level qualification aims to build on your personal strengths and interests to help you become an effective and creative teacher of people aged 14 and over who have additional needs.
Course details
Achieving your potential can be difficult for everyone – but especially for young people and adults with social, mental health, behavioural or emotional challenges, physical or cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments, communication difficulties or learning differences.
Teaching Learners with Additional Needs (TLAN) can be an exceptionally rewarding, if demanding, career. If you have the commitment, courage and patience then this Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course offers you the knowledge and skills to help others develop their understanding, confidence or independence, enabling you to transform lives. Offering 60 credits at Master’s level that can be transferred to a full Master’s award, it’s designed to show your ability to work independently at a high level in the field of education.
Through a combination of traditional study and work-based learning, you’ll be able to explore the key theories and techniques of teaching, learning and assessment for all learners, focusing especially on TLAN. We’ll guide you as you learn to plan and deliver lessons and explore a range of additional needs. Our expert and supportive tutors will work to help you become an expert, engaging and inclusive teacher with high standards of professionalism.
- Start date: 21/09/2020
- Location: The University of Bolton
- Award: PGCE M
- Duration: 2 years
Course highlights:
- TLAN offers enormous scope. For instance, you might teach personal independence and social skills to people with profound learning difficulties, help students in pupil referral units or prisons learn basic maths and English, or support learners with hearing or visual impairments to develop employability skills.
- Ofsted rated us as ‘outstanding’ for the quality of leadership and management across our ITE partnerships at the last inspection in December 2012, and rated the quality of outcomes for our trainee teachers, the quality of the training they receive and the overall effectiveness of our partnerships as ‘good’.
- The University of Bolton sits at the heart of an extensive and well-established partnership of post-14 education and training providers, offering access to an impressive range of educational environments.
- Our three specialist modules in TLAN are designed to help you gain a high-level of understanding in the teaching, learning and assessment of students with learning difficulties, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, and social, mental health, emotional or behavioural challenges, alongside the sound knowledge of ‘generic’ education offered by the course.
- Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced, enthusiastic and dedicated experts, ensuring you have access to feedback and advice.
- After completing this ITE course, you can progress towards QTLS (Qualified Teacher for Learning and Skills) which is recommended for teaching in the further education and training sector.
Key features:
- This is a pre-service ITE course – you don’t need prior experience of teaching or current employment in education.
- Our highly qualified and dedicated team offer a wealth of experience of teaching both in post-14 education and training and teacher education, as well as educational research, ensuring you have access to the latest thinking in teaching and learning.
- We offer a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes and excellent IT and library facilities.
- Work-based learning through teaching placements is essential for success on this course and you’ll have the opportunity to gain a minimum of 100 hours’ experience planning and delivering learning.
- We’ll organise your work placements and these may be in a variety of settings, helping you gain a rounded appreciation of the types of environment you can work in and experience teaching a diverse range of learners.
- This PGCE 14+ course meets the requirements of the FE-specific Diploma in Education and Training (DET) which is the recognised full teaching qualification for the FE and Skills sector. It’s ideal if you wish to teach in adult and community education, further education, sixth form colleges, universities, the prison and probation services, pre-employment training and work-based learning.
Entry requirements
- Start date: 21/09/2020
- Location: The University of Bolton
- Award: PGCE M
- Duration: 2 years
The entry requirements for this qualification will depend on the area which you wish to teach to learners with additional needs and on your prior qualifications and experience, but we require an Upper Second Class Honours degree (2:1 or above, or equivalent) in a relevant subject. You’ll need to have experience of working or volunteering with Learners with Additional Needs, e.g. you may have worked as a support worker, teaching assistant, learning mentor or carer, volunteered for a charity, or you may have experience supporting a family member with additional needs.
If your qualifications aren’t from a recognised UK education institution, advice will be taken from the International Office on comparability.
You'll be required to attend an interview as part of the application process. This will involve written diagnostic tests for English/literacy and mathematics/numeracy, a short oral presentation, and a face-to-face interview.
This course involves working unsupervised with children and/or vulnerable young people and adults and you must gain an Enhanced Disclosure certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting your studies. Charges are payable to cover the cost of the DBS Enhanced Disclosure application and annual registration with the online Update Service. Find out more
You'll need to provide satisfactory references, a satisfactory health declaration and a satisfactory student agreement prior to enrolment on the course.
If English isn’t your first language you’ll also need IELTS 6.5 with normally no less than 6.0 in any band (or equivalent). Find out more
Career opportunities
The University of Bolton Postgraduate Certificate in Education (M) 14+ is a teacher education course for graduates who wish to teach in the FE and Skills sector of education; for example, in adult and community education, further education, sixth form colleges, the prison and probation services, pre-employment training and work-based learning.
This course focuses on teaching learners with additional needs. You could therefore be specifically employed to work with young people who need additional support or who require an advanced programme of learning in order to reach their full potential. Many TLAN teachers/lecturers work with individuals who have physical disabilities, sensory impairments, learning difficulties such as dyslexia, social or mental health needs or a combination of these difficulties.
What can I do with this qualification?
In addition to working in further education colleges, sixth form colleges and schools, there are also opportunities to work in specialist educational units such as Pupil Referral Units and with traveller support. Within work-based learning you could work for a private training provider ensuring people are ready for work and have the right skills. This usually involves working with young people and apprentices.
If you choose a career working with adults and community learning, you’ll work out in the community, delivering practical and creative courses, as well as focusing on basic skills, language and computer courses. The justice sector, another route, involves working in prisons and youth offender institutions teaching basic skills. Some offender institutions also offer vocational preparation courses.
The PGCE 14+ (M) TLAN qualification includes 60 credits at Level HE7, which can be transferred to a full Master’s award at the University of Bolton (totalling 180 credits, including a Dissertation).
Alternatively, this course will prepare you to undertake a range of specialist career development courses at the University of Bolton; e.g. in curriculum development, inclusive education, and mentoring and coaching. These Level HE7 modules are worth 20 credits, which can then be used towards a Master’s in Education.
Alternative career options
- Higher education
- Education officer
- Mentoring support
- Family liaison
- Educational psychology
- Education administration
- Student Services advice
- Student liaison
- Educational writing
- Examinations
- Counselling
- Careers guidance
- Training and development
- Quality standards
- Community engagement
- Youth work
Professional recognition
The University of Bolton’s Postgraduate Certificate in Education (M) 14+ programmes meet the requirement of the FE-specific Diploma in Education and Training (DET).All new FE and Skills teachers must complete a teacher education qualification as the first step in obtaining QTLS (Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills).
The course does not lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) to teach in schools. However, QTLS does legally have equivalence to QTS and is recognised by some head teachers in schools.
Fees & funding
No fee information is currently available, please contact Student Data Management on 01204 903059 or SDMenquiries@bolton.ac.uk for more information
The fees for a student’s course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
The University is currently awaiting Government guidelines as to EU fee charges for students commencing study in 2019/20.
UK undergraduate tuition fees are subject to UK government approval and are subject to the outcome of the Teaching Excellence Framework.
Contact The University
Key facts
-
Course type:
Part-time -
Start date:
21/09/2020 -
Location:
The University of Bolton -
Award:
PGCE M -
Duration:
2 years
Contact us
Sarah Telfer
Programme Leader
Email: S.Telfer@bolton.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 903304
Rosemary Galway
Senior Lecturer
Email: R.Galway@bolton.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 903291
Enquiry Team
University of Bolton
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1204 903903
