Secondary Art and Design PGCE

Champion creativity in the classroom and help pupils discover their artistic talents. Whether your passion is for fashion, sculptures or illustrations, you can inspire the next generation. Our Secondary Art and Design PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) will equip you with strategies to become a confident and successful teacher across KS3 and KS4.

You’ll spend time in local schools, plan engaging lessons, cover behaviour management techniques and discover how pupils learn. On campus, we’ll help you reflect on your teaching from a subject-specific perspective and give you one-to-one support.

But you’ll get far more than just a teacher training qualification with us. As part of our Institute of Education, you’ll have access to the latest research on what works in the classroom and other evidence-based approaches.

On the PGCE, you will have hands-on experience on placement. As well as teaching pupils, you’ll have the chance to get them involved in our poetry and visual arts project. It will culminate in the students’ creative work – such as photographs, drawings or paintings - being showcased in an anthology.

From getting the most out of your induction to tips on teaching your first lesson, your personal tutor will be there to support you every step of the way. We have also developed a close partnership with school-based mentors for your placements.

At University, you can tap into the expertise of our staff in different artistic disciplines. And for our curriculum workshops, you’ll be able to use our specialist facilities, covering areas such as ceramics, printmaking and mixed media.

We also have links with education departments in leading regional art galleries and museums, opening up lots of opportunities for our trainees.

After you pass your PGCE, you will be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). But the support doesn’t stop there - we’ll even offer you a mock interview in a school to prepare you for job applications.

Work placements

Our Secondary Art & Design PGCE lasts for one academic year, from September until the end of July. This school-led course includes an induction to prepare you for your placement and weekly face-to-face sessions at the University to develop your knowledge of the curriculum and subject-specific pedagogy. You will also undertake 20 Intensive Training and Practice (ITaP) days focused on foundational areas of learning to further develop your practice in the classroom.

To give you experience in the classroom, you’ll spend at least 120 days working in two local secondary schools as well as visiting a local primary school. But, don’t worry, you won’t have the pressure of teaching an entire lesson straight away.

Your training will begin with observing a teacher and helping with group work. Then you’ll share the classes with the teacher and work towards teaching lessons independently.

Alongside teaching, you’ll join in with day-to-day life at the school. Each school has a professional mentor to help you understand the ethos, pastoral care systems, legal and social framework, and supporting services.

You’ll also have weekly meetings with your subject or class mentor to help you prepare for teaching, review lessons, and develop your subject knowledge.

Curriculum workshops are a key element of your course. These are delivered in our specialist facilities by dedicated Art and Design lecturers and teachers, allowing you to experience a range of practical work in key specialisms such as ceramics, printmaking, drawing, mixed media, and in working with education departments in leading regional galleries which have included The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Airspace Gallery, Middleport Pottery Museum, Wavemaker and the West Midlands bridge organisation for Arts Council England, Arts Connect.