Admissions A-Z - PGCE

The below sections are listed in alphabetical order.

Accommodation

Information on any accommodation support that can be offered to you can be found on the Student Housing Services website.

Applications

The following sections of your application are really important and are considered first by admissions staff during the decision-making process:

Course date information

A sheet containing the course dates for all courses can be printed from the Registry website.

Course information

This can be found on the School of Education web pages.

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Enhanced Disclosure

Applicants for courses or modules that involve contact with children or vulnerable adults will be required to submit CRB Enhanced Disclosure applications. Frequently asked questions (and answers!) about CRB can be found here 

Deadlines

You can normally apply from Early September in the year before the course is due to start. The GTTR deadline for PGCE Primary applications is usually 1 December (but please check this on the GTTR website) and we usually close admissions for this course at that point.
For all Secondary courses we will accept applications throughout the year if a course is still open. We do not have a deadline for applications - the courses will only close when they are full or prior to the course start date in September. These courses may also be available in clearing.

Disabilities

If you have a disability, please see our Disability Statement

Entry requirements

PGCE Primary and Early Years

If you have any other qualifications to offer that you believe are equivalent to the above, please contact teaching@bathspa.ac.uk to check that we would accept them prior to making your GTTR application.

PGCE Secondary

Art and Design

Design and Technology

English

ICT

Mathematics

Modern Languages

Music

Physical Education

Religious Education

Science

If you have any other qualifications to offer that you believe are equivalent to the above, please contact teaching@bathspa.ac.uk to check that we would accept them prior to making your GTTR application.

Please also see the relevant course links on the BSU teaching page for more information.

Fee information

Funding for teacher education courses is being changed. There will no longer be any government funding direct to the University and all funding comes from student fees, with TDA Training Bursaries available for some students.

For 2012/3 entry, fees for all PGCE courses will be £9,000 (subject to OFFA approval). Applicants will be eligible for TDA Training Bursaries up to a maximum of £20,000. Details of the TDA bursaries can be found here

Feedback

You will be able to access feedback on your GTTR track page. Please click on the link for the course code and you will find the information behind that section.

Deferred applications

We do not offer deferrals under any circumstances, unless you have applied for one of our enhancement courses (please refer to course information to see whether this is applicable to you) and there are not enough places in the current cohort for you to be able to attend, or the course has already started for that year.

How to apply - link to existing page

Please see the main Bath Spa University Initial Teacher Training page.

How to find us

Directions on how to reach our campuses can be found on our website - please click on the markers which will reveal where our campuses, teaching sites and hall of residence are located in Bath:

Information distribution following firm acceptance of offer

If you have received an offer, you will be sent a welcome letter from January onwards with a Criminal Records Bureau application, medical form and suitability declaration, all of which you need to complete and return to us. Pre-course information can also be found on the School of Education web pages which is updated throughout the year.
Prior to the start of your course, you will be sent joining instructions which will give details about registration and enrolment. Our Student Portal will also contain information on this.

International applicants

If you hold overseas qualifications, please ensure that you check with UK NARIC (the UK National Recognition Information Centre) before you apply whether or not your qualifications (school and degree) meet our entry requirements, having your documents assessed if necessary. Please contact teaching@bathspa.ac.uk if you would like clarification. Please also ensure that when you complete the GTTR application, you state your actual qualification titles, not the UK qualifications you believe them to be equivalent to. It is also possible that you will be asked to send a copy of the transcript of your qualifications. 

PGCE courses require attendance at interview, and, if you are shortlisted, you will receive notification of this via GTTR Track as well as by email from us, so please ensure that you check your accounts regularly.

If we decide to offer you a place, and if there is any indication on your application that you may be a full-fee paying student, the offer may be based on this assumption. This is so that we are able to process your application as quickly as possible. In the meantime, your application will be viewed for an evaluation to be made on your fee status by our Fee Status Assessment Team. If there is insufficient information on your application for such an evaluation to be made, you will be sent a fee status assessment questionnaire which you should complete and return as quickly as possible.

Please read our English Language Requirement Policy to find out more about whether or not your English qualifications meet our entry requirements. You will need to have passed IELTS 7.0 or the equivalent at point of application.

Please be aware that we are required to take a copy of your passport and visa at the point of enrolment. Further information about the new tier 4 visa system for non-EU students entering the UK can be found on the UK Border Agency website.

More information regarding fees, the international deposit and visas can be found here

Also, you might find this website useful to you - it has some very good information about studying in the UK: http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/information_sheets.php

Interviews

You will be required to attend the University for interview as we cannot accept telephone or video conferencing interviews. If you are shortlisted you will receive an email outlining the interview date, information about the day, as well as instructions on how to find the relevant University campus. Please be aware that we do not send letters inviting you to attend an interview, we would always communicate this to you by email (unless you have not provided an email address on your GTTR application). Please, therefore, always check your junk mail box in case our email has gone there by mistake! Do also check GTTR Track as this will display the date of your interview.


Interviews are held once a month (more often for PGCE Primary) and the amount of notice you are given will depend on the time your application is received and processed. If you are given a short amount of notice (for example, one week), you will be given the chance to attend on that day but may also be able to opt for an alternative date should one be available.


Please expect to have to carry out tasks in preparation for your interview. PGCE Primary interviews are conducted in groups, PGCE Secondary and KS2/3 interviews are made up of subject group and one to one interview sessions. You will be asked to produce your qualification certificates before the interview begins and these will be checked and put ready for you to collect before you leave.

Open days and events

These are run by the BSU Marketing department. For more information, please check The BSU Open Days and Events website for details of what's on and how to book.

Our offers will be either unconditional (i.e. you have met all of the academic requirements before applying) or conditional (for example, you need to complete your degree before starting the course). It is very important that you advise us when you have met any condition attached to your offer for us to be able to confirm your place. Please do this by contacting teaching@bathspa.ac.uk. Failure to communicate this to us will mean that you will not be able to register or start the course.

 

Part-time applicants

PGCE Primary and Early Years (3 - 7 age phase) is the only PGCE course that is available for part-time study. Applications should be made via the GTTR and are considered in exactly the same way as full-time applications.

Process time

Once your application is received at GTTR, it is processed and then arrives at Bath Spa University up to 5 days later. Admissions staff at BSU then view your application to check your academic qualifications and will then pass the application along to the Course Leaders for them to decide if you should be invited to interview. If you are offered an interview, admissions staff will input the date of the interview onto the GTTR system and will also send a letter to your contact address outlining the details of the interview. Decisions following interviews will normally be transmitted to GTTR within two weeks of the interview date and feedback will also be available (see 'Feedback').
If you have not been shortlisted for interview, this decision and the reason for the decision is also entered onto the GTTR system.
It is therefore important that you check GTTR track regularly.

Registration and enrolment

In late August/early September we write to all new students with information about induction as well as joining instructions and information on how to register. It is very important that you advise us when you have met any condition attached to your offer for us to be able to confirm your place. Please do this by sending an email to teaching@bathspa.ac.uk. You should also ensure that you have submitted all of the relevant documentation/certificates in good time (you will be informed of what you are required to provide). Failure to communicate your results to us or to provide the documentation will mean that you will not be able to register or start the course.

Registration is done online, from the comfort of a home environment, via our Student Portal and should be completed before you first arrive at BSU. Once you arrive, you will need to enrol onto the course and for this you will need to provide your student number (which you will be issued via the Student Portal when you register) and some photographic identification.

Student Portal

The student portal is an interactive website that allows us to communicate and collect information from applicants and new students. It can be used throughout your time at BSU for checking timetables, updating address details and registration information for each year of study.

Support

Information about how we can support your needs, regarding disability, welfare, health or financial concerns, can be found on our Student Support Services pages.

 Timetables and contact time

This can be found on the School of Education web pages

When to apply

You can normally apply from Early September in the year before the course is due to start. The GTTR deadline for PGCE Primary applications is usually 1 December (but please check this on the GTTR website) and we usually close admissions for this course at that point.
For all Secondary courses we will accept applications throughout the year if a course is still open. We do not have a deadline for applications - the courses will only close when they are full or prior to the course start date in September. These courses may also be available in clearing.