How to apply

You should have an undergraduate honours degree e.g. BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) of usually 2:1 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. Additional information for overseas applicants: Please be aware that you will be required to attend the interview in person. You will also need to be knowledgeable of the UK educational system and - if your interview is successful and you are offered a place - have completed a 5 day school experience in a UK-based school before taking up your place at Goldsmiths. This is is a prerequisite for any successful applicant to take up their place on our PGCE Primary course.

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

ideally, 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 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.

You should have an undergraduate degree (eg BA, BSc etc) from a university in the United Kingdom. Your degree should be in your proposed main teaching subject area or in a closely related subject that is a suitable preparation for entry to the programme. If your degree is in more than one subject, you should give a complete breakdown of the courses you studied within your degree when you submit your application to the GTTR – we will generally have to be satisfied that at least half of the content of your degree was in your proposed main teaching subject area.

As well as British qualifications, we accept many equivalent overseas qualifications. If you would like to know whether your overseas qualifications meet our requirements, please contact the Admissions Office.

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

If you do not have – or are not currently studying for – a GCSE in English or Mathematics, you may be eligible to sit the internal College tests. We advise you to apply early. We regret that these tests may not be used to overlook recent failure in GCSE examinations, and that you can only take the tests once. You cannot take the Goldsmiths English test if you are applying to study English, or the Goldsmiths Mathematics test if you are applying to study Mathematics.

In addition, you need to satisfy the specific entrance requirements for the programme you are applying for. These are outlined below:

You should have a degree in a subject related to Design and Technology, such as Theatre Design, Product Design, Graphics, Silversmithing, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture, Textiles, and so on. The most important issue for you to bear in mind is that, at Goldsmiths, design and designing are at the heart of our programme, being central to both our teaching of the subject and our teaching pedagogy.

In some special cases, an unrelated degree may be acceptable if you have worked in a field related to Design and Technology. Each year the programme contains a good mixture of graduates with a broad spread of specialist expertise, and we welcome applicants with experience of working in business and industry.

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. If you were educated in France, Germany, Spain, or another Francophone/German-speaking/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 that 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.

We do take a very limited number of students with only French, Spanish or German. However, we advise them to apply early as there are very few of these places. If you have no second language, or only a limited
knowledge, we expect you to make every effort to develop this before the programme starts (eg through evening classes, courses, holidays abroad or self-study).

If you have lived outside the UK and have not worked in a British school (for example as a Foreign Language Assistant), it is very helpful if you arrange to visit a secondary school for a day to observe lessons before you submit your application. You can then refer to this visit on your application form.

You should have a degree in the science that you wish to teach. For example, to get a place on the biology PGCE, ideally you should have a biology degree. If you have done a degree which goes across the sciences then 50% of your degree must comprise of the science subject you wish to study. Psychology may be acceptable depending on the modules you have chosen during your degree and your A-level qualifications.

If your degree does not have the 50% required in your chosen science you can still submit an application as you may still be able to gain a place subject to completing a TDA subject enhancement course (mainly for Chemistry and Physics).