PGCE

Course code Q3X1

The PGCE Internship programme in English is designed to prepare you to teach the subject in comprehensive schools. It aims to help you make the complex transition from having been a successful student of English in higher education to becoming a successful school teacher.

The English programme has been developed with colleagues from our partnership schools and is based upon the following core principles:

• The view that the creative, imaginative and expressive aspects of the subject have a key role in pupils’ learning 
• The view that English teachers should write for pleasure, read widely for enjoyment and participate in cultural events in their school and in the wider community 
• The view that English teachers should share their experiences as writers, readers, speakers and listeners with their pupils 
• The understanding that writing is a practice that covers a wide range of processes, functions, rhetorical situations, and categories of discourse 
• A broad view of what constitutes text and the understanding that technological innovation can change both what is considered as text, how text is prepared and how it may be interpreted 
• The importance of literature in the development and understanding of human cultures and in personal, social and ethical development 
• The importance of diversity in reading practices and the value of a range of interpretative approaches to texts 
• An understanding of the English language at word, sentence and text level Recognition and respect for varieties of language and languages 
• A belief that English, as a subject, involves the development of social relationships and collaborative work 
• The inter-relationship of speaking, listening, reading and writing 

In addition, the programme covers the key professional skills of:

• Lesson and course planning and preparation 
• Assessment, recording and reporting 
• Responding to individual learning needs 
• Classroom behaviour and management 

English teaching in England is subject to continuous change and development. The Internship English programme is intended to enable beginning teachers to meet the challenges of change confidently and creatively.

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the university, and you take part in informal and formal discussions about this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations.

We look for applicants with a good degree in English or a degree in another subject that involves textual study together with further degree-level work (through the Open University, for example) in English. We of course welcome applications from those with degrees in English Language or Linguistics as well as in English Literature.

If you think Oxford isn’t for people like you – talk to us! More than three quarters of our interns have degrees from outside Oxbridge.

Watch student, Daisy, give her account of the PGCE English course

Watch student, Jamilyn, give her account of the PGCE English course

Course code F8X1

Learning to become a Geography teacher at Oxford is challenging, stimulating, very rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable. The subject naturally lends itself to a huge range of student learning activities, both in the classroom and in the field, and most interns find this diversity one of its attractions. 

The main aims of the geography course are to provide the foundations for you to become an inspiring and effective geography teacher of young people who now find themselves living in a fast-changing world, and to quickly become innovative leaders in the field.

Central to the course is the basic tenant that all young people, regardless of social class, race, ethnicity, gender or ability can learn and enjoy geography, and that geography, as a discipline, has a significant contribution to make to the broader aims of education.

The idea of ‘subject’ is central to the design of the course and we encourage you to engage critically with ongoing policy and academic debates about what kinds of geographies are fit for a 21st century education system.

By the end of the course, you should: 

• be competent in the skills of teaching geography, as specified in the Standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status. 
• understand the contribution that you as a geography teacher can make to the education of pupils in the widest sense. 
• be able to take responsibility for your continuing professional development. 

The course consists of an integrated programme of lesson observations, school-based activities, teaching and reflection in school and university workshops, lectures, tutorials and fieldwork. In school you will begin by working with teachers and small groups of pupils. As your confidence grows, you will plan and teach lessons with a class teacher and with other interns, sometimes working with a group of pupils, sometimes with a whole class.

In the University, you will work with the other geography interns, and with the geography education tutors. You will be expected to read and to think about teaching in a critical and theoretical way, taking account of your own ideas about the sort of teacher you would like to be.

You will be able to make a real difference to pupils, fostering their learning of the important issues which shape the future.

All geography interns gain fieldwork experience in their schools and through the university in a range of locations. The practicalities of organising such trips are also explored in departmental sessions

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the University, and you take part in informal and formal discussions about this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations. 

We welcome applications from candidates who have studied Geography or a degree in a related area, such as Geology. Applications from those who may need to complete a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course are also welcome. If you are uncertain about the appropriateness of your degree, please contact the PGCE Office. 

Watch student, Daniel, give his account of the PGCE Geography course

Course code V1X1

We are committed to enabling you to teach history in rigorous ways while taking account of the learners’ needs, desires and dispositions, across a range of different contexts. Our course is based on a strong set of partnerships built over a long period of time with local schools.  This partnership extends to include visits to local museums, a local case study and visits to a number of London schools to explore EAL and diversity issues. We have a real passion for history and young people and are looking for candidates that share this passion. Our course looks to support successful history teaching based on the use of engaging and rigorous historical enquiries that link substantive historical knowledge with critical historical thinking.

Course development evolves in response to feedback from all PGCE partners, combining insights from up–to–date research with the perspectives of PGCE students and their mentors. The course integrates teaching experience in partner secondary schools with practical university-based workshops and helps you develop teaching skills and a critical understanding of learning and teaching across a range of different contexts. 

The curriculum programme is organised around six broad themes: 

• Exploring your preconceptions about the nature of history and about effective teaching and learning 
• The context of history teaching today, including the nature of the history curriculum itself (Key Stage 3, GCSE and post-16), the relationship between history and citizenship education and the wider professional context of teachers’ work 
• Managing history classrooms 
• Planning for learning – exploring the range of decisions that you need to make in planning for single lessons and longer schemes of work, examining the range of goals and activities possible, and the ways in which you can select and tailor your objectives and learning tasks to ensure that all pupils are engaged and can make progress 
• Carrying out your plans 
• Evaluation: of both your own teaching and the pupils’ learning in history 

In school you will be involved in all aspects of a teacher’s role. You will observe experienced teachers and discuss your observations and your own developing ideas and practice with them, plan and teach collaboratively, and design and develop resources for that teaching. You will work both with individuals and small groups of pupils, as well as taking responsibility for teaching history to whole classes. In the University you will work with other history interns in seminars and workshops using a wide variety of approaches intended to develop your own repertoire and understanding of effective teaching and learning strategies, informed by both practical and research-based, theoretical perspectives. One key aspect of the PGCE programme is the space to share knowledge and understanding of the variety of contexts. 

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the University, and you take part in informal and formal discussions about this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations. 

We welcome applications from candidates who have not studied History but have completed a degree in a related area, such as Law or Sociology. If you are uncertain about the appropriateness of your degree, please contact the PGCE Office. 

Watch Dr Katharine Burn, PGCE Course Director, tell us about the PGCE History course

Watch student, Melissa, tell us about her account of the PGCE History course

Course code G1X1

The aim of the Mathematics course is to help you to become an effective secondary school teacher of mathematics. To help you achieve this goal, we teach you through a variety of styles, paces, approaches and presentations in the hope that you will use a similar variety when you teach. Learning mathematics can be challenging. It requires concentration, and can feel like hard work, but it also has the ability to surprise, and to give a sense of achievement and enjoyment. Learning to be a teacher will be all of these things too. Teaching on the PGCE course is strongly informed by the mathematics education research which takes place in the Department, some of which is undertaken collaboratively with partner schools. Course tutors are active researchers and experienced in writing for teacher trainees and practising teachers of mathematics.

Objectives of the course

• To provide mathematical experiences on which you can reflect as a learner, and relate these to planning for teaching 
• To offer insights into children’s learning and, through recognition of their particular conceptions, to help you plan your teaching accordingly 
• To provide skills and experiences in planning, teaching and managing effective lessons through which learners can gain mathematical knowledge, awareness and understanding 
• To help you to reflect on and analyse your teaching, and make decisions about how to modify and adapt it to be more effective for students’ learning 
• To introduce you to a range of resources, research and theoretical perspectives on which to base your growth as a teacher 
• To enable you to develop skills and experience in ICT that will support your teaching and its management 

Main themes of the course

• Developing reflective teaching (DRT): in which you think about your practice in a professional, developmental manner 
• Learners’ mathematical development (LMD): in which you think about mathematics and lessons from the point of view of how learners think 
• Teaching and learning a topic (TLT): in which you learn how to structure mathematical knowledge so that your teaching is effective 
• Planning and management (PM): in which you look at planning and managing lessons, classrooms, professional work and yourself 

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the University, and you take part in informal and formal discussions about this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations. 

You are encouraged to apply if you are committed to teaching mathematics in state comprehensive schools, can demonstrate your commitment to working with children in schools through voluntary work or other experience, have a good degree (a 2:2 or above) in mathematics or a mathematics-related subject such as engineering or economics, and can provide an excellent academic or work reference. Applications from those who may need to complete a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course are also welcome. If you are uncertain about the appropriateness of your degree,please contact the PGCE Office. 

Watch student, Joanna, give us her account of the PGCE Mathematics course

The University of Oxford offers a PGCE in Modern Languages (Chinese (Mandarin), French, German and Spanish).

We expect you to be able to offer two Modern Languages from the four listed above, and we can provide a range of placements for various combinations of these languages. We may not be able to offer you an interview if we do not have school placement capacity in your preferred language combination. 

It is important that you have qualifications in both the languages that you wish to teach. For your main language, these qualifications should preferably be at university level, or you should have it as one of your first languages, e.g. have spoken it from a young age. You will be expected to teach your main language up to and including A-level.

For your second language, your qualifications should preferably be at A-level or equivalent (B2 CEFR level). You will be expected to teach your second language up to age 14 as a minimum.

The Modern Languages PGCE course is designed and implemented jointly by colleagues in schools and the University working in close partnership. It is not our aim to prescribe particular approaches to teaching Modern Languages, but rather to enable you to draw on the full range of different sources available to you for your own professional learning – and in so doing to develop a clear and reasoned understanding of the sort of teacher that you want to become. Tutors on the course, who have many years of classroom teaching experience as well as teacher training experience, will guide you and support you in this exciting but challenging process. 

Our course will help you to become an effective and confident teacher by providing you with the following: 

• Opportunities to observe other practitioners in the classroom and to understand their decision making 
• Insight into theories and findings from research into Second Language Acquisition, helping you to understand how adolescents learn a modern language in a classroom setting 
• Opportunities to learn from school students themselves about their experiences of language learning and the barriers they encounter 
• Opportunities to learn from, and share good practice with, other beginning teachers working in different school contexts 
• Practical advice on: the preparation, teaching and evaluation of languages lessons; how to assess and monitor students’ progress; promoting positive behaviour for learning; and responding to the diverse needs of individual students 
• Opportunities to try out and systematically evaluate a range of teaching approaches in a range of classrooms over an extended period of time 
• Many ideas for using and adapting a range of modern language materials in the classroom

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the University, and you take part in informal and formal discussions about this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations.

Student Ye-Ye Xu (French with Mandarin 2020-21) discusses her PGCE experiences in this podcast.

Watch Modern Languages PGCE student, Constance, tell us about her experience

Watch Modern Languages PGCE student, Phil, tell us about his experience

Course codes:   Biology C1X1           Chemistry F1X1          Physics F3X1

The teaching of the sciences in schools is normally organised within a single Science department or faculty to which teachers from the different sciences contribute their respective expertise. Such a structure is reflected in the Oxford Department which, while actively recruiting for trainee teachers of the separate sciences – biology, chemistry and physics – works as a co-ordinated team of scientists. 

The course aims to produce high quality teachers of the sciences across the 11-19 age range who will not only become competent teachers but will quickly become innovative leaders in their field. Interns will gain expertise in the different strategies for teaching science and will get insights into the way that pupils learn across the whole range of attainments, aptitudes and pupil differences. 

Interns will learn how to turn their own subject knowledge into a form that can be appreciated by pupils and will think critically about the aims and practicalities of teaching science in schools. To attain these goals, interns work with each other, the University tutors and their mentors in schools as adult learners, motivated to take responsibility for their own learning. The learning is structured through workshops, seminars, discussions, focussed assignments, school-based activities and sympathetic, expert, supervision and support. There are opportunities to prepare science lessons, in particular, by trying out practical work both here in the Department as well as in school. Between them the six science tutors cover such subjects as biology, chemistry, physics, earth and environmental sciences. All have extensive experience of teaching and are involved in curriculum developments and research in science education at national and international level. 

Rather than attempt to train all interns to teach in a particular way, we aim to build on your existing strengths – as good scientists and as mature, autonomous, motivated personalities – to help you teach in the way most suited to you and your school students. 

The teaching of the sciences in schools is normally organised within a single Science department or faculty to which teachers from the different sciences contribute their respective expertise. Such a structure is reflected in the Oxford Department which, while actively recruiting for trainee teachers of the separate sciences – biology, chemistry and physics – works as a co-ordinated team of scientists. 

The course aims to produce high quality teachers of the sciences across the 11-19 age range who will not only become competent teachers but will quickly become innovative leaders in their field. Interns will gain expertise in the different strategies for teaching science and will get insights into the way that pupils learn across the whole range of attainments, aptitudes and pupil differences. 

Interns will learn how to turn their own subject knowledge into a form that can be appreciated by pupils and will think critically about the aims and practicalities of teaching science in schools. To attain these goals, interns work with each other, the University tutors and their mentors in schools as adult learners, motivated to take responsibility for their own learning. The learning is structured through workshops, seminars, discussions, focussed assignments, school-based activities and sympathetic, expert, supervision and support. There are opportunities to prepare science lessons, in particular, by trying out practical work both here in the Department as well as in school. Between them the six science tutors cover such subjects as biology, chemistry, physics, earth and environmental sciences. All have extensive experience of teaching and are involved in curriculum developments and research in science education at national and international level. 

Rather than attempt to train all interns to teach in a particular way, we aim to build on your existing strengths – as good scientists and as mature, autonomous, motivated personalities – to help you teach in the way most suited to you and your school students. 

Aims of the course

• To develop as a professional 
• To explore your pre-conceptions about science and teaching science, and draw on your teaching experiences in a positive and reflective way 
• To have opportunities to use research and academic study to inform your thinking and practice 
• To learn how you can plan lessons which take account of how students learn science, so that you can? develop their scientific understanding and investigative skills 
• To organise and manage school science lessons which are safe and secure learning environments 
• To contribute to students’ understanding of science in society, citizenship and development of literacy and mathematical skills 

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the University, and you take part in informal and formal discussions about this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations. 

We welcome applications from candidates who have studied Biology, Chemistry or Physics or a degree in a related area, such as Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science, Materials or Zoology. Applications from those who may need to complete a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course are also welcome. If you are uncertain about the appropriateness of your degree, please contact the PGCE Office. 

Watch Lead PGCE Science Tutor, Dr Judith Hillier, tell us about the main PGCE Science course 

Watch student, Ed, give us his account of the PGCE Physics course

Watch student, Rebecca, give us her account of the PGCE Chemistry Course

PGCE Science student, Jacob, gets a big hug from one of the snakes during an end-of-term reptile science lab visit!

PGCE Science student, Lucy, is not scared of her new acquaintance!

PGCE Science student, Euan, has discovered a natural bond with reptiles in our end-of-term reptile science lab visit.

Thomas, our PGCE Science student, makes friends with a reptile in our end-of-term science lab visit.

The main aims of the Mandarin PGCE programme are to provide the foundations for you to become an inspiring and effective teacher of Mandarin to young people who find themselves living in a fast-changing world, and quickly to become innovative leaders in the field.

The course comprises in-person teaching during specific weeks of the academic year (the first week of the PGCE term, part of one week in mid-October, a week in February and a week in April); distance learning via Teams on the Monday and Friday of each week during Term 1 (September to December); and school placements (in S1, the main school placement from September through to the school Easter break, and then S2, a different school from April through to the end of June). This is a bespoke arrangement for the Mandarin PGCE but, other than these specific arrangements, the Mandarin PGCE will align with aspects of the main PGCE more generally, including all assessment arrangements.

An innovative aspect of this new programme will be that placements will not primarily be in the Oxford area but will, instead, be spread across England, hence the distance learning nature of the programme. It should be noted that, even if a placement does happen to be local to the Oxford area, then PGCE Mandarin interns will still follow the model described above and will not have face-to-face tuition other than during the designated weeks at the Department.

If you are considering applying, it is important that you have an appropriate subject-specific degree level qualification which will enable you to teach Mandarin or, if you have Mandarin as your first language, that your degree-level qualification is in Mandarin Education or a related field. You will be expected to teach the subject up to and including A-level. Applicants with Mandarin as their first language who are only able to offer a degree in an unrelated discipline will not be considered for the programme.

The Mandarin PGCE course is designed and implemented jointly by colleagues in schools and the University working in close partnership. It is not our aim to prescribe particular approaches to teaching Mandarin, but rather to enable you to draw on the full range of different sources available to you for your own professional learning – and in so doing to develop a clear and reasoned understanding of the sort of teacher that you want to become. Tutors on the course, who have many years of classroom teaching experience as well as teacher training experience, will guide you and support you in this exciting but challenging process.

Our course will help you to become an effective and confident teacher by providing you with the following:

• Opportunities to observe other practitioners in the classroom and to understand their decision making
• Insight into theories and findings from research into Second Language Acquisition, helping you to understand how adolescents learn Mandarin in a classroom setting
• Opportunities to learn from school students themselves about their experiences of language learning and the barriers they encounter
• Opportunities to learn from, and share good practice with, other beginning teachers working in different school contexts
• Practical advice on: the preparation, teaching and evaluation of languages lessons; how to assess and monitor students’ progress; promoting positive behaviour for learning; and responding to the diverse needs of individual students
• Opportunities to try out and systematically evaluate a range of teaching approaches in a range of classrooms over an extended period of time
• Many ideas for using and adapting a range of teaching materials in the classroom

Assessment of your progress and achievements are jointly carried out by your schools and the University, and you will always take part in informal and formal discussions around this. Continuous assessment is used throughout the course and there are no examinations.

Applications for September 2025 entry open on Tuesday 8 October 2024. Apply through the Department for Education’s site.

There are no formal application deadlines for the PGCE at the University of Oxford. The University tutors continually review new applications until spaces for each subject are filled. If you meet our entry requirements, we encourage you to submit your competitive application as soon as possible. 

No. The PGCE course at the University of Oxford works exclusively with state-funded secondary schools.

Students who are entitled to support under the student finance criteria can apply for: 

• A tuition fee loan of up to £9,535 to cover your teacher training (‘Home’ student fee level), so you do not need to pay course fees upfront 
• A maintenance loan to help with living costs 

You can still apply for a tuition fee and a maintenance loan if you already have a student loan, and regardless of whether you get a teaching bursary or scholarship. You will only have to make loan repayments once you are earning. Your repayments will not increase if you already have a student loan and take an additional loan for teacher training. 

Please note that if you are not eligible for ‘home’ fees, the international fee level for entry in 2024-5 is £38,410. 

We will review and process your application as quickly as possible. This typically takes up to 2 weeks. If you meet the selection criteria for interview, you will be contacted by email and invited for an interview. If your application does not meet the selection criteria, it will be rejected on the DfE Apply system. After being interviewed, it typically takes 2 weeks to receive an outcome.

The PGCE is a full-time course requiring attendance at the University and in school for placements. It is not possible to take this course through distance learning.

All applicants shortlisted will be interviewed online via Teams.

Applications are welcome from candidates with a 2:2 classification or higher. In all cases we review both your academic history and your attitudes towards teaching. Consequently, we would also encourage applications from those who have extensive UK school experience and a 3rd class classification. Honours classification would be competitive but is not essential when applying for the PGCE, however it will be essential for any teacher training bursary or scholarship application. 

Candidates are encouraged to spend at least one day of observation in a non-selective, state funded UK secondary school prior to making an application or attending an interview. If you cannot complete this observation, you can still submit an application. Although strongly encouraged, school experience is not a condition for the Oxford PGCE.

All PGCE students are normally expected to live within 25 miles of Oxford’s city centre. If you are moving to Oxford for the first time, we suggest that you seek accommodation as centrally as possible, because you will then have access to more public transport options and thus can be considered for placements within more partnership schools. As the PGCE works with schools across Oxfordshire and in neighbouring counties we can consider requests to be excused from this requirement, but this is not guaranteed.

Accommodation is not guaranteed for any student, but there are plenty of options to explore. Colleges and the Graduate Accommodation Office offer a wide range including non en-suite single rooms and private flats. Once an offer has been accepted, PGCE students can simultaneously apply for college and Graduate accommodation. If you have childcare responsibilities then advice is available from Childcare Services.

School places are decided by the Department, but are informed by students’ home location, professional preferences, caring responsibilities and disabilities. Throughout the PGCE, students experience two partnership schools. When your second school placement is decided, the Department also consider your experience so far on the course and the developmental priorities that have emerged. It is important to note that not every school will offer a training place for every subject and that a place at a particular partnership school cannot be guaranteed. 

All PGCE interns are guaranteed a college place. For the PGCE, a college choice is not made at the point of initial application. If you are successful at interview and decide to accept the offer of a place from us, you will be supported to apply for a college place.

We do set SKEs as conditions of offers. SKE courses give students the opportunity to improve their knowledge before the PGCE starts. We typically set SKE courses where students have been outside of formal education for a significant period, or when they have studied a subject related to the area that they wish to complete a PGCE in. If invited to interview there will be an opportunity to have a tailored conversation about your SKE options with the panel. If you are interested in completing a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course then you should briefly mention this in your application form. For more information please see this website.

Around two thirds of Oxford’s graduate students are international, and international students are welcome to apply for Oxford’s PGCE. Please note, our course is designed for new or inexperienced teachers who plan to teach in the UK. Although not a condition of an application or of an interview, experience within a state-funded UK secondary school is highly recommended. If this is not possible then observing elements of UK teaching outside of the UK (for example, International GCSE lessons) is also highly relevant. Although strongly encouraged school experience is not a condition for the Oxford PGCE. 

International qualifications viewed as comparable to qualifications taken within the UK are accepted for the PGCE. In order for the University of Oxford to formally recognise overseas qualification the student must present a Statement of Comparability from UK ENIC. 

In many cases, yes, but it will depend on several factors.

For the PGCE, there are two processes for considering criminal convictions: one managed by the Department of Education and the other overseen by the University’s Criminal Conviction Panel. In the first instance, your disclosure will be reviewed by the Department, and then if the conviction disclosed meets the definition of a “relevant” criminal offence, which has to be disclosed to the University as stipulated by the University, it will be considered by the University’s Criminal Conviction Panel, which will follow the University of Oxford’s Criminal Conviction policy. Find out more here.

All unsuccessful applicants will be provided with feedback on their application via the Department for Education application system.

Please refer to the University guidance on complaints and appeals regarding graduate admissions decisions, available on the University website at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford/university-policies/complaints-and-appeals.

Please note that each admissions decision is made on the basis of a number of different factors and on an assessment of your application as a whole. There is no right of appeal in relation to the University’s academic assessment of your application.