Five Reasons to Study a PGCE

Considering a career in teaching, but want to know what the advantages are to studying for a PGCE? Choosing a postgraduate course is a big decision, and one you should do plenty of research about to avoid ending up spending lots of time (and money) following a path that you find isn’t quite right for you. Luckily, there are a huge number of reasons why a student would want to get a PGCE and become a teacher. Whatever age range you’re hoping to teach and whichever subject you’re hoping to specialise in, we’ve put together a list of five reasons why a PGCE could be the degree for you. 

Reasons to Study a PGCE

1. The Funding Options

Unlike many other postgraduate courses, there are actually plenty of options available to students who opt to do a PGCE. There is always a demand for teachers and the Government subsequently protects PGCE students, meaning you’ll have access to the same funding options that undergraduate students do (not to mention a range of scholarships and training bursaries).

Go to: How to Fund a PGCE

2. The Starting Salary (bear with us) 

Okay, so it’s not often you hear people going on about how ridiculously well-paid teachers are, but let’s get one thing clear: when you go into your first teaching job, you will earn a minimum of £25,714. If you’re working in inner London, that jumps up to £26,948 (which isn’t at all bad in the current graduate job market). These wages will also go up every year for the first few years of your career, and will jump even higher if you move into a management position within a school.

3. The Career Path

As well as a solid starting salary, a job in teaching also gives you good career security. The demand for new teachers always seems to be high, and once you land your first job you’ll have a range of different paths ahead of you. You could aim to move into a management position within your department, or go straight up the main career ladder within your school (Head of Year, Deputy Head and then on to Headteacher). It may interest you to know that some headteachers earn six-figure salaries…

4. The Job Structure

By job structure we mean the nice, six-week summer holidays you’ll be enjoying (not to mention Christmas, Easter and half-term). Okay, so the reality is you’ll probably still be working to some extent over the latter holidays, but having the whole of August off is a massive perk of the job.

5. The Variety

You’ll discover this on placement during your PGCE, and it’ll be further enforced during your career; the fact is, being a teacher is an incredibly varied and changeable experience (and we mean on a day-to-day basis). You’ll constantly be facing new challenges and new situations, and you’ll almost certainly never be bored.

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