Goldsmiths - University of London

You should have an undergraduate (normally of at least lower second standard) or postgraduate degree (e.g. BA, BSc, MA, MSc etc) from a university in the United Kingdom. As well as British qualifications, we accept many equivalent overseas qualifications: if you would like to know whether your qualifications meet our requirements, please contact the Admissions Office.

The PGCE (Primary) is open to you

if

you have GCSE Grade C or above (or recognised equivalents) in English Language, Mathematics, and a science subject (including combined science). Please note that English Language proficiency exams such as TOEFL, IELTS or the Cambridge First or Advanced Certificates are not acceptable.

and

your degree is related to primary education - for example, English, mathematics, science, art, design and technology, geography, history, music, PE, child development, educational studies or early childhood education.

or

you studied one of these subjects as part of your degree

or

you have an A-level in one of these subjects in addition to a degree.

If you do not have the relevant GCSEs, we may accept equivalence tests offered by other institutions. Goldsmiths does NOT offer internal equivalence tests for English and Mathematics to applicants applying to the PGCE Primary courses.

All PGCE(Primary) applicants must spend a minimum of five days in a UK primary school before starting the programme. We will send you a form that your host school will be required to complete.

In addition to the general PGCE (Primary) entrance requirements above, you need to meet one of the following criteria:

either

your degree includes an appropriate element of French, German or Spanish

or

you have gained an A-level (or equivalent) in French, German or Spanish, normally at Grade C or above

or

you do not have a formal qualification but are able to communicate well in both spoken and written French, German or Spanish.

Goldsmiths offer an equivalence test for English and Mathematics.

At least part of your degree should be in French, German or Spanish. You should also have some knowledge of one of the other languages: ideally as a subsidiary subject in your degree or at A-level, but GCSE or O-level is a help as a starting point.

If you have EU A-level-equivalent qualifications from a country other than the UK (Baccalauréat, Abitur and so on), providing a breakdown of your marks for each subject on the GTTR form will speed up the processing of your application. If you were educated in France, Germany, Spain, or another Francophone/Hispanic country you must have a degree from a university there. This does not have to be a degree in the language, but usually it should be in a subject which requires writing clear, grammatically accurate coursework/assignments/dissertations. A degree in English from such a country is also acceptable since it requires translation and good, grammatical understanding.

The requirement to have some grasp of two of the three languages (French, German or Spanish) is because:

• most of the Partnership schools used for Teaching Practice find it easier to timetable lessons if you have two languages, even if one is at a basic level
• there are many more posts requiring two languages, even if the second language is only offered at beginners’ level, than for just one language
• in terms of long-term career prospects, most Heads of Department have two languages in order to be able to advise/lead the rest of the department.