East Kent Learning Alliance Primary (S388)

Qualified teacher status (QTS)

Accredited body
Canterbury Christ Church University
Financial support
Student finance if you’re eligible
Qualification
QTS

Qualified teacher status (QTS) allows you to teach in state schools in England and may also allow you to teach in other parts of the UK.

It may also allow you to teach overseas, though you should always check what qualifications are needed in the country you’d like to teach in.

Age range
5 to 11
Course length
1 year - full time
Date you can apply from
11 October 2022
Date course starts
September 2023
Website
https://www.ekla.org.uk/

Contents

Course summary

The key feature of our course is that the majority of the year is spent on school placement working alongside experienced colleagues in schools.

Base School:

  • Petham Primary School

Non -salaried route/Fee paying:

This is not an employment route. Trainees will pay their own fees.

Key components:

You will:

  • have a school based mentor, who you will meet with weekly

  • be provided with a teaching timetable within ITT requirements

  • plan and evaluate all taught lessons, initially with the support of your mentor

  • be formally observed, it’s recommended at least once per fortnight and ideally once per week

  • observe other staff, it’s recommended at least once per week

  •  compile a portfolio of evidence over the course of the year to show that you addressed the Core Content Framework (CCF) and Teachers’ Standards (TS) for initial teacher training

  •  attend all CCCU training days and EKLA professional studies sessions

  •  have access to a comprehensive school based CPD programme

  • complete contrasting school experience placements

Assessment: Successful completion of a School Direct course forms the first of the three year entitlement for Early Career Teachers (ECT) and will lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) at the end of the three years.

There is an additional opportunity to complete a PGCE. Please discuss this option at interview.  Additional funding will be your responsibility.

ECT Pathway

Throughout the course you will be assessed by your mentors and tutors who will grade you at key points to help you understand how well you are meeting the standards to become an ECT. At the end of the course you will have a final, summative assessment which takes the form of a review meeting to formally assess whether you have met the Teachers’ Standards the Core Content Framework (CCF).

School Direct PGCE Pathway

In addition to the above ECT assessment process, trainees who have opted for the School Direct PGCE Pathway will be required to submit three 4,000 word equivalent assignments, spread across the year, which will be assessed at Masters Level.

School placements

Your school will be selected by you at the time of submitting your application as each of our schools and subjects has its own code that you will enter onto the application form.

Whilst you will spend the majority of your time in the base school that you apply to you are required to complete some school placements:

  • Second school experience – a minimum of 20 days, in a block. To be undertaken in term 3.

  • Adjacent age range experience – a minimum of 15 days, of which 10 should be undertaken in a block

  • Prior and post age phase experience – a minimum of 5 days, does not need to be a block.

You school based mentor will help you organise these placements and EKLA and CCCU will also offer support throughout the year

Entry requirements

Qualifications needed

An undergraduate degree at class 2:2 or above, or equivalent.

Grade 4 (C) or above in English, maths and science, or equivalent qualification.

We’ll consider candidates with pending GCSEs.

We’ll consider candidates who need to take a GCSE equivalency test in English, maths or science.

CCCU equivalency tests are undertaken by Equivalency Testing. These tests provide a transferrable, nationally recognised qualification. Tests are booked through Equivalency Testing at http://www.equivalencytesting.com/ This can be done at any time and applicants do not need to wait until an offer has been made.

Personal qualities

EKLA ARE LOOKING FOR GRADUATES WITH:

A commitment to working with young people

Good communication skills

A fascination with the learning process

A love of their subject

The ability to motivate and enthuse young people

Experience of working with young people, particularly in a school environment, strengthens an application

A desire to make a difference

Other requirements

Subject Knowledge Enhancement course – To be completed by all secondary Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and MFL candidates who do not have a degree in the subject they want to teach

Work experience: Being able to evidence experience of working with young people, particularly in a school environment, strengthens an application. We would therefore recommend that you visit a range of schools. This is not a requirement but a recommendation to help prepare you

CLEARANCE FROM THE CRIMINAL RECORDS BUREAU (CRB)

http://www.ekla.org.uk/itt/school-direct-eligibility

Fees and financial support

The course fees for UK students in 2023 to 2024 are £5,960.

About the training provider

The East Kent Learning Alliance (EKLA) is a partnership of secondary and primary schools that engage with schools and accredited providers to recruit high quality trainees to provide a rich training programme.

EKLA is committed to helping improve the lives of the young people that it serves in East Kent and believes that the recruitment and development of the workforce of the future will help us to achieve this aim.

The advantages of choosing EKLA are:

  • We have a strong relationship with our accrediting provider, CCCU

  • Collaborative working

  • Joint Professional Studies delivered by serving practioners

  • Potential Employment with a school in the EKLA area

  • Our EKLA School Direct coordinators complete QA visits of all our trainees.

These visits will quality assure the school provision to ensure consistency and monitor provision for our trainees. This will include additional support for trainee development.

Support Activities will include:

  • Initial meetings to QA school provision in line with training requirements
  • Joint observations and debrief with mentors
  • Meeting with key stakeholders
  • Portfolio reviews

For further information visit: www.ekla.org.uk

Interview process

You will be interviewed by the EKLA school (s) that you name in your application.

Examples of the activities included at interview are:

  • A tour of the school
  • Teaching a 30 minute activity
  • A formal interview (2-3 panel members)
  • A CCCU Literacy and Numeracy test

In order to be short-listed for interview an applicant must have:

  • A degree of a minimum award of 2:2, with honours. Your degree must be completed before commencement of your training place

  • A minimum grade C/4 in English and Mathematics. If you want to teach primary you must also have at least a grade C/4 in a Science.

    • Equivalency tests are accepted.

  • NARIC equivalency certificates are required for any degree or school qualifications gained outside the United Kingdom

Personal Qualities that we are looking for:

  • A commitment to working with young people

  • Good communication skills

  • A fascination with the learning process

  • A love of their subject

  • The ability to motivate and enthuse young people

  • Experience of working with young people, particularly in a school environment, strengthens an application

  • A desire to make a difference

Please visit our website for more details:

http://www.ekla.org.uk/itt/school-direct-eligibility

International candidates

You’ll need the right to study in the UK. You already have this if, for example, you:

  • are an Irish citizen
  • have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (you may still be able to apply)
  • have indefinite leave to remain in the UK

If you do not already have the right to study in the UK, you may need to apply for a visa. The main visa for fee-paying courses (those that you have to pay for) is the Student visa.

To apply for a Student visa, you’ll need to be sponsored by your training provider.

Sponsorship is not available for this course.

If you need a visa, filter your course search to find courses with visa sponsorship.

Alternatively, check if you’re eligible for a different type of visa, such as a Graduate or Family visa, that allows you to train to be a teacher without being sponsored.

Find out more about training to teach in England.

International qualifications

If your qualifications come from a non-UK institution, we may want to see a ‘statement of comparability’ from UK ENIC. This will show us how they compare to UK qualifications.

You can call Get Into Teaching on 0800 389 2500 for:

  • guidance on the UK equivalents of your qualifications
  • a free statement of comparability once you’ve submitted your application (if we ask you for this)

Training with disabilities and other needs

Access varies according to our different schools so for more details please contact the individual school that you wish to apply to directly. You can find a list of the primary and secondary schools that are recruiting for School Direct with us at:

https://www.ekla.org.uk/itt/school-direct-places

Contact this training provider

Email
courses@ekla.org.uk
Telephone
07784 653929
Website
https://www.ekla.org.uk/
Address
EKLA c/o Herne Infant School
Palmer Close
Herne Bay
Kent
CT6 7AH

Support and advice

You can speak to a teacher training adviser for free, dedicated advice. They are all experienced teachers who can give you one-to-one support with your application. They can also help you get school experience, and find events where you can speak to training providers and teachers.

Call Get Into Teaching free of charge on 0800 389 2500, or chat online Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm (except public holidays).

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