Secondary Mathematics with QTS (11-16) PGCE

You’ll begin your time with us by reflecting on your existing subject knowledge and understanding. Through this you’ll be able to pick out your main strengths and areas of individual development to focus on.

While on campus, you’ll develop your knowledge of essential education theory and strengthen your subject understanding. We’ll cover innovative teaching and assessment methods including whole class teaching and group work. You’ll also become confident using technology to support learning.

We’ll introduce the ways you can encourage numeric development, including spoken and mental mathematics, and the importance of using the right numeric terms. Learn how to plan lessons effectively and check your teaching is always adaptive and inclusive.

Outside your lectures and seminars, you’ll complete extensive hands-on placements and boost your awareness of the teaching profession through our specific placement curriculum. Get the chance to watch and support at first, then increase your timetable as your confidence in the classroom grows.

How you'll study

A combination of academic study, group discussion and reflection, and practical, work-based learning in the classroom will give you all the knowledge and skills you need to become a creative and innovative teacher. The programme aims to develop a reflective and critically analytical approach to education.

School Placements

You will undertake extensive placements in schools, putting your training into practice through assisting in and taking responsibility for classes, and working alongside mentors and peers to further your professional development. The focus initially is on observation and supporting teaching and learning. Your teaching timetable will increase as your training progresses and you become more confident and competent in the classroom.

You will also engage in Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP)—a distinctive feature of our curriculum. These focused, high-impact sessions allow you to rehearse key elements of teaching such as behaviour management, scaffolding, questioning, and professional behaviours. ITAPs are grounded in the latest educational research and delivered by expert tutors, mentors, and partner schools.

During ITAP periods, your schedule may vary from the standard pattern, requiring you to attend sessions on campus or in school on different days. These experiences are designed to deepen your understanding and refine your teaching skills in key areas of classroom practice.

How do you decide which schools to place trainees in?

We carefully select placement schools that offer high-quality mentoring and a broad range of experiences. When allocating placements, we consider your subject specialism, prior experience, and personal circumstances, including commuting distance and accessibility. Our priority is ensuring supportive environments that enable you to thrive and make strong progress toward Qualified Teacher Status.

How much time will you spend in each school?

You will spend the majority of the PGCE year in schools, gaining experience across at least two contrasting settings. The exact pattern and duration of placements may vary each year, but you will have substantial time in classrooms to develop your teaching practice and experience a range of school contexts.

What will you do while in your placement schools?

 During school placements, you will gradually develop from observing experienced teachers to leading your own lessons, with increasing independence. You will plan, teach, and assess learning within your subject area, reflecting on pupil progress and your own practice, through mentor feedback and professional discussions. You will also participate in departmental and whole-school activities, attend meetings, support extracurricular opportunities, and engage with pastoral responsibilities. Observing a range of colleagues will allow you to explore different teaching styles and subject-specific pedagogies. You will be supported by a trained subject mentor who provides weekly developmental targets and tailored guidance as you follow a structured weekly curriculum, underpinned by the ITTECF and Teachers’ Standards, ensuring coherent progression in subject knowledge, curriculum planning, behaviour management, inclusion, and assessment. Throughout placement, your university tutors will provide ongoing support, and lecturers continue to deliver curriculum content, ensuring seamless alignment between university-based and school-based training, with no separation between theory and practice.

What will you do during their theoretical training?

At Edge Hill University, theoretical training underpins classroom practice. You will engage with evidence-informed modules covering curriculum design, behaviour management, inclusion, assessment, adaptive teaching, literacy, and professional conduct. Subject-specific sessions deepen disciplinary knowledge and pedagogy, ensuring you understand how pupils learn within their subject. Core modules focus on evidence-informed practice in subject areas, curriculum design, and key learning principles, alongside adolescent development, safeguarding, SEND, and diversity. Subject specialist lectures and seminars encourage critical engagement with educational research and reflection on teaching approaches. You will also participate in academic research and debate, exploring current thinking, developments, and issues within your subject area to strengthen your professional understanding. You are guided to critically evaluate theory and apply it effectively in school contexts, drawing on recent scholarship and national frameworks such as the ITTECF. The taught curriculum continues seamlessly across both campus and placement periods, ensuring sustained progression and coherence between theory and practice.

How you'll be assessed

You will be assessed, through a balanced combination of coursework and portfolio assessments, against both academic criteria and the Standards related to QTS. Various other tasks will enable you to show your competence in ICT, numeracy and literacy and other areas of Mathematics.

Your professional practice will conclude with a final viva that will allow you to demonstrate appropriate achievement against the Teachers’ Standards in order to allow us to make a recommendation for QTS.

Who will be teaching you

The Faculty of Education has been at the forefront of teacher education for over 135 years and today enjoys the enviable position of being one of the country’s leading providers of education, training and research for the children’s workforce.

Tutors are at the forefront of national developments within secondary education. They write Mathematics schemes for national publication and have an excellent reputation for training high quality professionals.

The Edge Hill lead mentors and mentor leadership team play an important part in your teacher training as experts in their field. They have a deep knowledge of the trainee curriculum and support trainees and mentors to make progress providing guidance and support on aspects of the curriculum and assessment.