Assessment
Our PGCE programmes involve practical teaching requirements and formal written assignments. Assessment is continuous across all aspects of the course.
Beginning Teachers are reviewed twice in each placement school by their mentors. Beginning Teachers also gather their own evidence of learning and development as part of compiling a Professional e-Portfolio that meets the Teachers' Standards for practice and conduct by the end of the course in June.
Beginning Teachers complete 3 Masters level assignments which are marked according to the University's Masters marking policy and earn trainees 60 Masters level credits over the year. These are deliberately scheduled for submission once per term, and towards the end of each half-term break to give trainees non-teaching time for completion.
Our programmes are designed to provide Beginning Teachers with useful learning activities that go beyond the standard national requirement to be allowed to teach.
In our recent Chief External Examiner report it was noted that “The academic assignments are designed so that the trainees link the theory of teaching with the practice of teaching in their lessons. They focus the trainee (Beginning Teacher) on the Teachers’ Standards and require them to reflect on how they have made progress in their understanding of pedagogy, and how they translate this to their classroom practice. In discussion with the trainees, they could clearly see how the assignments had supported their own professional development… The trainees I met with felt that the assignments were fit for purpose and as I read the sample agree they have been written to direct the trainee to reflect on the literature pertaining to the topic and to consider how this can be translated into their professional practice. They are then able to reflect on how they can improve and to then set targets for their own professional development… embedding a useful skill as they progress throughout their career.”
Contact us
education-pgce-admissions@york.ac.uk
01904 323576