We offer our students an exceptional training experience – if you’re looking for a lifelong, challenging and exciting career, teaching may be for you.
By incorporating current trends and issues into our teaching, you will be prepared as best as possible for the classroom. As a part of our distinctive and ambitious curriculum you will understand and apply your knowledge of:
- Enquiry Based Learning
- Thinking Geographically
- Fieldwork & geographical Skills
- Powerful Knowledge
- Education for Sustainable Development
Your subject knowledge workshops will support you to expand your Geography knowledge and develop a teaching toolkit to support effective learning which develops curiosity about the world amongst students. You will master skills to teach GIS using ArcGIS online with Esri UK, alongside opportunities to explore fieldwork outside the classroom. You will cover a broad range of human and physical geographical themes, such as landforms and processes, place and identity, sustainable futures, globalisation and development, weather and climate. You will consider the changing geography curriculum and contemporary issues such as decolonising the geography curriculum. You will also be encouraged to reflect on up-to-date research on the latest pedagogy, making critical evaluations and considering how it might influence your ongoing practice.
Emphasis is placed on strategies such as learning through enquiry, fieldwork, and Education for Sustainable Development (EfS) to ensure you are well prepared to successfully teach and motivate pupils in the contemporary classroom. You will explore all areas of the Geography National Curriculum, considering transitions between phases. You will be encouraged and guided to become confident with designing your own ambitious curriculum to prepare students for the changing world in which we live.
You’ll be supported by a range of experienced professionals, both during school placements and by academic staff at the university. The programme aims to help you become an engaging and effective teacher within the 11–16 age range, providing the input and opportunities that could enable you to teach post-16. Successfully completing this PGCE course will enable you to teach at Secondary age, as well as Primary and A Level.
We were founded as a teaching college 175 years ago, and following the introduction of new quality requirements, our Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), have successfully achieved reaccreditation in 2022 by the Department of Education.
Our ITT courses have also recently been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, with inspectors highlighting their ‘unique’ emphasis on sustainability and the University’s strong partnership with schools.
A brand-new campus
It’s planned that this course will be taught at UoG’s new campus in Gloucester city centre from September 2025.
The vibrant campus will be at the heart of the regeneration of Gloucester city centre. It will bring an iconic building back to life as a modern centre for teaching, learning and community partnerships, through placements, research and outreach activity, and provide cutting-edge facilities for your course.
Study style
During the Developing Phase of the curriculum, trainees will attend centre-based lectures and be introduced to Curriculum Key Themes;
- Behaviour Management and High Expectations
- Subject Knowledge and Curriculum Design
- Adaptive Practice and Inclusion
- Children’s Learning, Classroom Practice
- Assessment
- Professional and Ethical Practice.
During School Experience 1, trainees will be immersed in Adaptive Practice and Inclusion in a special school setting. During School Experience 2, trainees will start to apply their knowledge from the centre-based taught programme. During school-based training, trainees will revisit specific Curriculum Key Themes and attend centre-based training once a week.
During the Broadening Phase, trainees will build upon and extend the knowledge, skills and experience from School Experience 1 and 2 and the centre-based taught programme. During the Broadening Phase, trainees will be expected to revisit and broaden their knowledge and practice of the 5 curriculum areas and Curriculum Key Themes introduced at the Developing Phase, and will engage with new Curriculum Key Themes, such as:
- Curriculum Design
- Subject Knowledge
- Sustainability
- Employability
- Research Informed Practice
During this phase of the curriculum, trainees will be supported to take on wider responsibilities as a part of the role of a trainee teacher and have opportunities to discuss, analyse and observe expert colleagues to support their progression through the Broadening Phase. Trainees will broaden their knowledge and experience of the primary phase, decolonising the curriculum, sustainability for education and other contemporary issues in education.
During the Enhancing Phase, trainees will enhance and extend the knowledge, skills and experience gained during School Experience 2 and the centre-based taught programme. During the Enhancing Phase, trainees will be expected to revisit and extend their knowledge and practice of the 5 curriculum areas:
- Behaviour Management
- Pedagogy
- Curriculum
- Assessment
- Professional Behaviours
During this phase trainees will plan and deliver an enhancement project such as ‘Primary Sustainability Project’ which will promote a love of learning and intellectual curiosity. Trainees will enhance their knowledge across the curriculum and demonstrate their ability to be:
Graduate Ambassadors of Education
Leaders of Learning
Outstanding Teachers
Subject Experts
At the end of the secondary programme, our highly employable trainees will be able to further enhance their professional development and draw upon their essential ECT Toolkit gained during the course.
What we offer
- Subject specialist input across all areas of your training.
- Smaller group sizes to allow for more individual support both during the taught content and while on placement.
- Opportunities to be involved in cross-curricular activities with other subject strands e.g. Mathematics and History.
- Links to Esri UK, including taught sessions using ArcGIS with Esri Schools.
- Links to the Field Studies Council.
- Opportunities to develop mathematical skills for Geography with the Advanced Mathematics Support Program including taught sessions on teaching Level 3 Core Maths, and access to ongoing CPD opportunities.
- Opportunities to gain a deep understanding of subject knowledge content and subject pedagogies across the age phases including primary and post 16.