PGCE (Secondary): Drama

In College-based sessions, you engage in practical Drama at your own level and then analyse this from the perspective of participant and teacher.

Starting to teach grows out of this, coupled with you observing Drama in schools, re-visiting the work of key practitioners, and beginning to develop the conceptual underpinnings of classroom practice.

School-based tutors are heads of department or experienced Drama specialists. In addition, you will be supported by alumni as ‘buddies’.

In the Autumn Term, you have an intensive introduction to Drama in education at the College, and begin weekly induction visits to your first teaching practice school.

As the term develops, you spend four days a week in school beginning to develop teaching skills, and return to Goldsmiths on the fifth day for support in lesson planning, managing behaviour, and assessing and recording pupils’ progress.

At the start of the Spring Term there is a similar pattern of College-based work, with an induction visit to your second teaching practice school. This enables you to build on everything you have learned in the first term and to plan for your second block of school experience.

You then spend four days a week in this school until the spring half-term.

After this you are in school five days a week gaining a sense of what it means to be a full-time Drama teacher. In the final weeks you return to College and complete your Career Entry Development Profile. You also engage in a review and evaluation of the programme as a whole.

Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.

Between 2020 and 2022 we needed to make some changes to how programmes were delivered due to Covid-19 restrictions. For more information about past programme changes please visit our programme changes information page.

You apply for this PGCE through the Department for Education’s Apply for Teacher Training website. More information about the process can be found on the Get into Teaching website.

Please take a look at the information on applying, including the specific qualifications or experience you need for this course.

There's no closing date for primary or secondary applications, but we advise you to apply early to avoid disappointment.

A range of teaching methods is employed across all our PGCE programmes, including:

• Taught subject sessions
• Practical workshops
• Compulsory lectures
• Seminars
• Group and Individual tutorials
• Individual and group presentations
• Supported self-study

You'll need:

• to meet our fitness to train requirements
• a GCSE Grade C/4 or above in English and Mathematics. Please note, we can only accept some UK and international GCSE equivalent qualifications. A complete list of accepted UK GCSE equivalencies can be found here: link. If you have a non-UK qualification that you believe is GCSE equivalent, you must check this with the Admissions team.
• an undergraduate honours degree, at 2:2 or above from a university in the United Kingdom or an international equivalent in a related subject, such as Drama, Theatre Studies or English

You are expected to be a practitioner in your own right with experience in the theatre industry. If you would like to discuss this before application please contact Amanda Kipling.