Help my American girlfriend become a Mrs. McCluskey (UK teacher)!

September 21, 2009 2:52 PM

My (American) girlfriend is looking to come over to London to study to become a teacher.

She already has a certificate substitute teacher licence ... but that's not much use in the UK. Or is it ... ?

Anyway, are there any recommendations for good/cheap universities that offer a teacher training course? Or any way of doing it?

posted by almostwitty to education (4 answers total)

It's not the only method, but I'd recommend that she enrol in university and do a one-year PGCE. She will have a much easier time finding employment with a PGCE qualification and she will make contacts in schools, which is likely to be the biggest benefit.

If her grades are good at university, I'd recommend she apply to the Institute of Education (U of London). It is competitive, but the graduate school is open to international students.
posted by yellowcandy at 3:33 PM on September 21, 2009

There are different ways to get into teaching in England, the TDA website is there to help.

The main route is a PGCE at university, provided you can prove you have a B.A. and can pay the £3,225 tuition fee. Depending on the subject, a grant will cover that cost (though I am not sure a non-EU citizen can access it). Recruitment for the courses usually start in January, and the school year on September 1st or earlier, so she will probably have to wait for next year to start on a course. Exeter University is the one I went to and the MFL department is quite good there, I was told the other departments were too.

Most likely, her American substitute teacher licence will be useless, the British government not recognising that many overseas teaching qualifications. However, she could still apply to teach into private schools, which don't always require to have a British diploma to teach.
posted by tweemy at 3:40 PM on September 21, 2009

She already has a certificate substitute teacher licence ... but that's not much use in the UK. Or is it ... ?

It might not be for going straight into a job teaching, but it will (if she also has experience teaching outside initial training) be a big advantage for her in applying to a PGCE course. I would assume with unemployment being up, places on such courses are in higher demand. You or she could attend a recruitment event and speak to someone directly. The application process has deadlines starting far in advance compared to many other post-grad courses.

a grant will cover that cost (though I am not sure a non-EU citizen can access it)

Yes, it's highly unlikely.
posted by K.P. at 4:37 PM on September 21, 2009

There's also the Graduate Teacher Programme if she has the equivalent of a UK bachelors degree. My Dad was a mentor for this scheme for the last few years.
posted by col at 4:18 AM on September 22, 2009