£9250 paid to be bullied by goons...

[YetanotherPGCEdropout]

One year teacher training with QTS, costs £9250, but I only did four weeks of the course. I dropped out having been bullied by Personal Mentor, having never thought that could happen to me. It was a shock.
The university still charged me £2000, and when I appealed, it was like talking to a brick wall. The tutor had already warned me that I'd been bullied at that particular school, since the previous trainee had been bullied to the point of nervous breakdown by this same Personal Mentor. So that might be the reason for the lack of refund. However. It's alot of money to pay to be bullied by goons.

I can't believe you were sent to a school where they knew, in advance, you'd likely be bullied! That's bloody unacceptable. It means sb else was bullied before, they knew it had unhappened and they did nothing to sort out the problem. Surely, you have plenty of legs to stand on when proceeding with a complaint. I would complain to Offsted (in for a penny, in for 9000 quid!).

Thank you poetry and wine.
I didn't mean to identify the University, but I am not sure how to delete a part of a post, once it is up there. Admin, can you help?
Thank you for your advice from one who has sat on university appeals. The problem is "giving evidence" when it is a case of being bullied. There isn't any clear evidence for bad practise when it comes to Personal Mentor conduct.

A duty of care to the students (and the children)?

Surely that is enough evidence for bad practice? They should have signed a contract with the uni. Therefore the uni is also at fault!

Thank you Oceanus - the Post-Covid teacher training scene might be a factor. There were more students than there were Placement places, and this caused confusion amid the student body. Some were placed with a two hour commute each way, home to school and back. Some were given no placement at all, due to lack of available placement places. Some were making their own arrangements for placement by calling schools directly, and then instructing the placement team at the Uni, to put them there - which - caused friction at the Uni, Obviously, the students were getting really concerned and were taking matters into their own hands. Some students couldn't be placed because there were delays in getting their DBS. With all this going on, it was inevitable that mistakes would be made.

I think that the Uni has had so many similar complaints in the past, that they just automatically swing into action, and write off the student that does highlight mentor bullying as "unfit to teach."

It is a brutal attitude and doesn't help weed out the Personal Mentors who have a bad reputation - but that does seem to be the way.
Therefore, I'm happy to go back to TEFL and stay in a part of education, which is less stressful and less bitchy and where I've got a good reputation already. The problem with the PGCE is that you are establishing a reputation as a teacher during your trainee year, amid people who don't seem to be respectful or intelligent or good. Of course, other people will disagree, because they had a very good Personal Mentor and all is well. It's down to luck, sadly.😭

I think words matter: either mistakes were made or you were bullied...! It's not the same. Not all students will be placed where they wanted. Still, you used the word "bullied" before and now you're talking about "mistakes being made"? You're either minimising what happened to you or making a mountain out of a molehill. Think about it as you mentioned your institution in a very public forum.

The tutor had warned you would be bullied before you applied?

I think that the Uni has had so many similar complaints in the past, that they just automatically swing into action, and write off the student that does highlight mentor bullying as "unfit to teach."

this sounds like gossip and hearsay to me

(some) Senior managers bully staff, gives them no moral high ground when (some) staff bully pupils, which gives them no moral high ground when pupils bully pupils.

/arrgh

Did you complain in writing? Do you have an email that you sent to the uni detailing the lack of support at the time? An email requesting to switch schools and the reasons why? That might help your case. Sadly, you're probably right that if it's a case of he said she said, you might not get anywhere. But it's a lesson to always put everything in writing!