Primary (Gaelic Medium) PGDE

What is special about this course?

The Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) consists of 18 weeks study at the university, plus 18 weeks in professional practice in schools. The placements in schools are arranged nationally and you will be placed in schools within travelling distance of your home or term-time address.

You must be a fluent Gaelic speaker at the start of this course and your language proficiency will be assessed at interview. Parts of the course are delivered through the medium of Gaelic and you will complete the majority of your school practice in classes that provide Gaelic Medium Education.

The Gaelic medium pathway is offered in partnership with Argyll and Bute, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland, and Perth and Kinross Councils, each working with the university through the relevant local campus at:

• UHI Argyll 
• UHI Inverness 
• UHI North, West and Hebrides - Benbecula; Fort William; Stornoway
• UHI Perth
• Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI

You will be required to have a home or term-time address in the local authority area of your chosen campus. Graduates of the course will hold provisional registration as a primary teacher with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

You will benefit from studying in small, locally based groups while collaborating remotely with other student teachers and tutors across the university’s network of colleges. The course is taught with the PGDE Primary (English medium) and overlaps significantly with the PGDE Secondary to offer a cross-sector perspective.

A mandatory three-day residential induction is held at the start of the course with a further one in March which focuses on STEM and developing teacher leadership. Each local cohort will also organise a showcase event at the end of the course, as part of developing leadership.

Special features

• The taught elements of this course are delivered online and in-person on campus, via scheduled sessions and tutorials
• You will also study online via the university's virtual learning environment (VLE), with support from your tutors
• You will undertake school placements for 50% of this course - this will take place in schools offering Gaelic-medium Education, wherever possible
• You will also take part in a mandatory, residential induction for the first week of August, at the beginning of your first academic year

Entry requirements

Important: please read our FAQ sheet for further information about this programme.

• Applicants should hold a degree at undergraduate level. An honours degree at 2:2 or above is preferred, as the teaching on the course sits at honours and masters level
• Applications will be considered from those not holding honours who are able to evidence sufficient academic capacity to undertake the course, by providing a transcript of the degree

In addition to the above, applicants must hold:

English:

• Scottish Higher (C or above), OR
• A level (D or above), OR
• GCSE English Language (C/4 or above) and English Literature (C/4 or above) or equivalent, PLUS

Mathematics or Applications for Mathematics:

• National 5 (C or above), OR
• SQA Intermediate 2 (C or above) or Standard grade Credit OR
• GCSE Mathematics (Grade C/4 or above) or equivalent

We recognise the current difficulties in gaining direct work or voluntary experience with primary-aged children. We expect your personal statement and supporting reference to clearly demonstrate what has informed your sense of readiness to apply now to become a primary teacher.

Selection events are usually held virtually in late February or early March.

Please note:

• This is a Category 1 PVG course: PVG Scheme membership is required to successfully achieve target qualification, where there is guaranteed contact with vulnerable groups in key elements of the course. For further information visit our PVG scheme webpage
• Please note: this course does not accept applications for deferred entry; if you wish to take a year out, for example, you must apply next year

Applicants who have lived outside the UK for a period of six or more consecutive months in the past five years will also be required to provide criminal records checks from all relevant countries prior to enrolment on the course.

Applications for the PGDE in Primary Education must be made through the main UCAS scheme in the same way as undergraduate courses. This applies to all institutions in Scotland delivering the PGDE. Applicants must provide details of their degree, English and Mathematics qualifications within the application, as failure to do so will lead to automatic rejection. Application deadlines include submission of references. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that referees are aware of the deadlines and that the application is submitted fully prior to the relevant deadline.

PGDE

PDGE Taught Modules

Collaborative Practice (20 credits)

This module will develop teachers who are critically reflective, accomplished and enquiring professionals, able to fully engage with the complexities of education and become key people in shaping educational change. It will enable an understanding of the nature of curriculum and its development, the relevance to the modern world and a changing society. The module will examine how Curriculum for Excellence aims to achieve a transformation in education by providing a more enriched, coherent and flexible curriculum. Students will be equipped with the skills to plan, teach and assess within a curriculum framework where the focus is on themes across learning and working with their class and teaching colleagues as part of the whole school.

Enquiry and Practice (20 credits)

This module is aimed at establishing children and young people’s learning, and their classroom experiences as learners, as the central focus for students’ enquiry into their own practice, as the key driver for all planning, teaching and assessment decisions made. The module is closely linked to the four blocks of Placement experience in Gaelic medium settings, to enhance understanding of learning as a continuum.

Reflective Practice (20 credits)

The module will equip students with the necessary tools to develop an enquiring and critical approach to their teaching, as part of their own personal and professional resources to ensure continuing growth and development. It aims to ensure that the aspirant teacher will become a reflective professional, embodying the necessary skills to think seriously about the quality of children and young people’s learning and the ways in which their own practice impacts on learning. The module will also give students a critical appreciation of how the key concepts of language understanding and development are integrated into teaching and how they impact on each other. 

Professional Practice (Primary)  (60 credits)

For this module, you will develop your teaching practice and professional identity as a teacher in three 6-week blocks of school placements in three different schools. These are allocated nationally via the Student Placement System to afford experience of learning within different levels of Curriculum for Excellence.

You will gradually increase the duration and scope of your responsibility for learning, teaching and assessment in your school placement class, culminating in taking full responsibility for the class for an agreed period of consecutive full days during the final 6-week placement.

Fees

For students normally domiciled in Scotland, with a term-time address in Scotland, the following fees apply:

This includes:

• EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status in the UK,
• EEA/Swiss nationals with settled status in the UK
• EEA/Swiss nationals with pre-settled status who are self-employed or migrant workers in the UK.

Rest of UK students

For students normally domiciled in the rest of the UK (England, Wales and N. Ireland, including Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and with a term-time address in Scotland, the following fees apply:

There are a number of funding options available to UK students to help you pay for your studies and your cost of living while studying. Students who are resident and studying in Scotland can apply for their fees to be paid by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). SAAS will determine eligibility.

EU/EEA and Swiss nationals without settled or pre-settled status in the UK.

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the Scottish Government confirmed that EU/EEA and Swiss nationals, who do not have settled or pre-settled status, will be considered as international for fee purposes. Students on this course will get an automatic fee scholarship of £3,000.

This includes EEA/Swiss nationals with pre-settled status who are not self-employed or migrant workers in the UK.

Students will need Student Route visa sponsorship to study on the UK.

International students

For students who do not normally reside in the UK or European Union and with a term-time address in Scotland, the following fees apply:

Funding

UHI has a number of scholarships, bursaries, awards, and discretionary fund opportunities available to new and current students. Please use the A-Z of funds or use the filter to see which ones may be relevant to you. All students are welcome to apply.

Further information on funding your studies is also available, please see the attached link or contact the relevant UHI partner.

Teaching students who are preparing for a career in Gaelic education can apply for a Gaelic Education Grant from Bòrd na Gàidhlig. Successful applicants will receive further information about how to apply.

Additional costs

• PVG disclosure check
• Travel to the residential inductions - meals and accommodation are provided
• Travel to school placements - these are arranged through the GTCS national system to be within 90 minutes travel time from your term-time address