International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS) (with PGCE)

Your background

1. You must have a university bachelor’s degree from a UK university or equivalents; UK ENIC provides advice on comparability or contact iqts-edu@buckingham.ac.uk. We will need to see your original degree certificate.
2. You must have the equivalent of a UK GCSE grade 4 in mathematics. If you are teaching pupils aged 5-11 you also need a GCSE grade 4 in science or one of the science subjects. If you do not have an equivalent qualification you will be asked to sit a proficiency test. To check your qualifications meet the standard of a UK GCSE, refer to UK ENIC, where you can apply for a statement of comparability.
3. You must have good written and spoken English. This means you completed some of your education in English OR you achieve an IELTS score 6.5 OR you pass our own English language test. Read further information about language requirements.
4. You must pass child protection/safeguarding/ criminal record checks. If you have lived in the UK you will need to apply for an International Child Protection Certificate www.acro.police.uk.
5. You must have the health and physical capacity to teach
6. If you are teaching now, you should be able to provide evidence of your professional standing as a teacher
7. You must pass an online interview with staff from the University of Buckingham
8. You must have access to a reliable computer
9. You must be teaching within one of the following age phases (you do not have to teach children of all ages within any phase):
   • Ages 3-11 = primary
   • Ages 11-19 = secondary route
10. We will require two written references.

Your school

1. You must be employed in a school as a teacher. You must be in school for a minimum of 120 days in the year.
2. That school must be happy to support you doing the iQTS course and must be happy to recommend you.
3. Your school must be able to provide an experienced member of staff in the school to act as your mentor, observing your lessons, providing feedback and discussing the weekly tasks set by the University of Buckingham. This will take 2-3 hours a week.
4. Your school should be able to provide written confirmation that they have carried out safeguarding/ child protection checks and that you have been deemed suitable to work with children.
5. If you do not have any evidence of prior experience in another school setting, your school must be willing to support you in gaining a minimum of 10 days experience in another school setting by the end of the course.
6. You will be expected to attend online lectures on Thursdays in 20 weeks of the year.

Interview

Applicants who fulfil the criteria for entry onto the University of Buckingham’s iQTS course will be invited for interview. During the interview, applicants will be asked questions about the Teachers’ Standards, subject knowledge and their suitability to teach. Successful candidates will be sent a conditional offer which will include a successful School Placement Approval Meeting between university and their school and any outstanding documents.

Trainees are assessed in a number of ways:

• you will have a mentor in your school who will arrange for your lessons to be observed and assessed so that you can improve week by week.
• you will record evidence of your teaching on an online form.
• trainees are assigned a University of Buckingham tutor who will be in touch regularly. You will have termly calls to assess your progress and guide your development.
• You will be expected to show evidence that you have mastered all of the Teachers’ Standards

If you wish to add an optional PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate of Education) you need to know:

• this is only suitable for students with good written English who have the ability to write at a high academic level
• the course consists of preparing for and writing 2-3 essays
• successful completion of the PGCE allows you to go on to take a Master’s degree

The University reserves the right to increase course fees annually in line with inflation linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). If the University intends to increase your course fees it will notify you via email of this as soon as reasonably practicable.

Course fees do not include additional costs such as books, equipment, writing up fees and other ancillary charges. Where applicable, these additional costs will be made clear.

Applicants must pay a £300 non-refundable Registration Fee.

Most people who pay the registration fee and are interviewed are accepted onto the course. You need to pay the registration fee to begin the application process.

iQTS: £8000

PGCE add-on: £1,000

Fees are invoiced at the beginning of the course but instalments can be arranged directly with the Finance department upon receipt of the invoice.

All staff at COBIS member schools get a 5% discount on course fees. To ensure the discount is applied please select ‘COBIS’ from the partnership box on your application form.

For further information please contact:  IQTS-EDU@buckingham.ac.uk

Student Complaints Policy and Procedure

If you have any questions you can contact The Faculty of Education by email: education@buckingham.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)1280 820 222.

Some courses are limited in terms of numbers and we operate a first-come-first-served system. Applications can take at least 6 weeks to process. Please consider school holiday closures and ensure applications are submitted in good time to avoid disappointment.

Please click the ‘Apply Now’ button to view the application deadline and start your application.