York St John University
UCAS Code: X320 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Five GCSEs at grades A* - C/Level 4 or above, including English Language, Maths and Science. Please consult our website or speak to our admissions team in order to check the approved equivalences to GCSE.
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About this course
The course combines academic study and practical teaching experience at every level. These two sides of the degree feed into each other as you learn, with the knowledge and theory you gain on campus informing your teaching practice on school placements. Your university-based study will cover both the primary curriculum, building your subject knowledge and pedagogy in preparation for placement, and professional studies modules which give you the skills and understanding to ensure all children make progress in their learning. You will have opportunities to personalise your course choosing either the 3-7 or 5-11 route. These two programmes study some modules together but others separately, giving you specialist knowledge for the age group you will work with. In your final year you choose a further specialism selecting a module from a range of options. You will also design, plan and carry out a research project with a focus of your choosing.
The key aim of the Primary Education programme is to deliver a high quality current and relevant programme of training and education that equips you with the professional knowledge, understanding, skills and attributes that you need to become highly effective teachers (and leaders) with both a strong subject and wider professional identity. To support this, you will follow an ambitious curriculum that is underpinned by the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and York St John Partnership five key themes, that has been designed to integrate theory and practice. You will also undertake six Intensive Training and Practice (ITAPs) opportunities where you will focus on specific areas of the curriculum and receive feedback on your practice. The combination of experienced university, school based and other external colleagues working in partnership, makes a powerful and inspiring teaching team.
• You will be supported throughout the programme to develop your subject knowledge and understanding of current educational policy and initiatives
• You will be encouraged to critically reflect on educational theory into practice to support development of pedagogy
• Academic assignments are designed to support your developing practice
• Throughout the programme there is strong support for you by both university and school-based staff and you also will benefit from the full range of university services (e.g. academic support, wellbeing services).
Our most recent Ofsted report (2022) highlighted that York St John trainees, ‘are well prepared for a career in teaching’.
**School placements**
Assessed school placements, one per year, provide structured opportunities to observe experienced teachers and other professionals, and support you in progressively building your confidence towards independent teaching. You will gradually take on more responsibility as you progress through the course until you are ready to lead a class of your own and you will get involved in all aspects of school life while you are on placement.
**About York St John University**
We have very good relationships with our school partnerships across the region. We work together with a wide range of schools to provide education and training that is current and relevant and underpinned by high quality research and evidence.
Initial Teacher Education has been a key part of York St John University since its inception in 1841. York St John University is an accredited Initial Teacher Training provider and on successful completion of this course you will be recommended for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) by the Teaching Regulation Agency.
We have a strong employment record and contribute to the local and national teaching community.
Once qualified and as you become an Early Career Teacher you will have access to university support resources in order to further support your transition from ITE into your first teaching role. ‘Transition into employment as an early career teacher (ECT) is particularly strong’ (Ofsted 2022).
Modules
The programme will be delivered through a series of modules (15 in total over three years). You will be taught in a variety of ways; a minority of sessions in whole group lectures (over 100 students), a vast majority of sessions in workshops and seminars (groups of 25 - 30 students) and tutorials (1- 6 students). In the first two years there will be compulsory modules covering National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage subjects (for the lower Primary programme), professional studies e.g. behaviour management, school experience and an introduction to research. In the third year of the programme you will be able to choose from a choice of elective modules and also a focus of your choice for your final research project.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
York St John University
Initial Teacher Training
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Teacher training
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Teacher training
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
The stats above mainly cover teaching degrees for training and qualifying in primary school education. These tend to be three or four-year courses — check with course tutors about how long you will need to study to get your Qualified Teacher Status. Most graduates go into teaching roles — usually primary school teaching, so these courses have good employment rates and starting salaries. We have a shortage of teachers of all kinds, which is deepening, and whilst many of the most severe are at secondary level, the prospects for this degree are not likely to take a downturn any time soon.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Teacher training
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£26k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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