Certificate in Education (Lifelong Learning)

All members of the team are fully qualified teachers, with backgrounds in further education colleges and adult and community education, as well as in the compulsory education sector.

You will normally be considered for entry to this course provided that you have a full Level 3 (A Level or BTEC equivalent) in your vocational or academic specialist area in which you wish to teach

All applicants are expected to complete a literacy assessment and should have, or be prepared to work towards, a level 2 qualification (GCSE equivalent) in both English and mathematics.

All successful applicants on this course are strongly advised to join the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).

Students must have a subject specialist mentor and have 50 hours of teaching practice in place, to run across the duration of the course. Employed volunteer teachers are required to arrange their own teaching placements as this is an in-service course

Year 1: Research-informed teaching, learning and assessment (30 credits)
This module develops your understanding of how people learn in the lifelong learning sector and of the role of assessment in enabling learning and achievement. It introduces theories and principles of learning and assessment and develops your ability to apply research evidence in designing effective learning and assessment strategies and materials. It develops positive approaches to the management of group and individual behaviours and promotes and inclusive approach to teaching, learning and assessment. It introduces the role of key transferable skills and the ways in which people learn English, maths and digital skills.

Year 2: Becoming A Subject Specialist Teacher (60 credits)
Build on both your generic and subject specialist developments to enhance teaching for students, supported by practical teaching experience, evaluation and feedback. You’ll also attend a two-day specialist conference at The University of Huddersfield where you will present your specialist conference paper to your peers.

The assessments methods for this course are varied and include:

Observed teaching practice, a micro teach session to peers, poster presentations, essays and reports of between 1500-4000 words, reflective journals, a conference paper.

All trainees maintain an online Professional Development Portfolio which is submitted as part of the final assessment. Included within the portfolio is a log of completed teaching hours, summaries of meetings with mentors, evidence of successful teaching observations and self-assessment against the ETF Professional Standards, among other elements.

Students study 4 modules across the two years of the programme:
Year 1:
Module 1: Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Module 2: Becoming a Specialist Teacher

Year 2:
Module 3: Being a Specialist Teacher
Module 4: Policy and Professional Issues

Students attend a 2-day conference at the University of Huddersfield in the second year of the programme and will need to budget for costs relating to travel and possible overnight accommodation.

A DBS check is required to participate on the programme and students may be requested to purchase this separately.

All the books required for the course are available from the library. However, you may choose to buy some of the core textbooks for the course and/or a laptop which is highly recommended. Estimated costs for a laptop/desktop are £300.

Materials are provided online and assignments are submitted electronically. However, you might also wish to print other documents.

Campus printing costs start from 5p per page.