Best uni for primary ed degree

[Bugsy73]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of the primary education degree at either Leeds (Becketts or Trinity) or York St Johns? When looking for work as a primary school teacher, does the university you attended feature at all? Or just the result you come out with? Thanks so much.

Hi I'm just bumping for you. I have no idea my dd is at Liverpool JMU but only a first year - she picked it because it has weekly placements as well as the normal placements.

The only thing I would say is they are Ofsted inspected. I honestly don't know whether that tells you much.

Thank you for responding! We're going to look at Edge Hill in a couple of weeks too.
How is your daughter getting on?

She likes it. But it's early days.

Ljmu is a small cohort. And has outstanding status. They are in schools every Monday as soon as you are ready as well as their block placements- and that really suits dd. She's better working but of course you can't currently do an apprenticeship for primary Ed.

Also, because it's a small cohort they guarantee you do a KS1 placement when you are learning that curriculum. Apparently that isn't the case with larger cohorts. And I get the impression they are looked after - eg they have hot chocolate Fridays with a lecturer to see how they are settling in.

All the accommodation and the uni buildings are in the city centre which makes everything easier.

There aren't actually that many that do primary ed. Sheffield also had the weekly placement.

That sounds really nice! Do you know if there is a way to check which uni's are performing well for primary ed?

I don’t think schools mind where you get the degree. So as you are only mentioning Yorkshire I’m assuming the schools there know what they are getting with those courses. What they care about is whether you are good enough to pass the NQT year and are great in the classroom. I’m from the south and never saw anyone who trained in the north. So jobs tend to be local. We did see people from Oxford Brookes and similar in the south. Some people do a first degree then do a PGCE. I think that’s more common these days.When going for jobs, references really mattered and interviews/class management in school.

I did a BA PGCE in education at Cambridge university. I have always been short listed for teaching jobs and I put it down to that.

@housepilot
Typical entry for that BA is now AAA. Few primary teachers would have that.

Aaah. Not sure what went wrong! It’s A star, A star, A.

I had a look on the Ofsted website but couldn't easily find it. And I'm not sure whether it is a good measure. Also courses are usually falling over themselves to give their employability stats - particularly something like teaching.

Does your dc know any NQT to speak to? That might help (or put them off for life!)

DD is doing two A levels and a Btec so can only go to uni's that accept UCAS points (not Cambridge 😁). Don't know any NQT's unfortunately!

Bishop Grotestte has a good reputation. I know a few people who trained there and enjoyed it.

Cardiff met has a degree in education where you come out with qualified teacher status. Too far?

Cardiff probably a bit too far.

My DD did one btec and two a levels - some offers were in grades and others are in UCAS points. The btec shouldn’t restrict your DD too much.

My dd has just started her 3rd year at Edge Hill, on the primary Ed degree, with QTS.

She's loving it. She is finding the course great and has enjoyed her placements.

Socially she's having a fab time too.

I think you’d be surprised at how many primary teachers have those grades 🙄

When it comes to job applications it’s one of the few jobs where it rarely makes a difference where your degree is from. York St John and Bishop Grosseteste are well known ‘teaching’ schools but go where you really want to spend the 3/4 years.

A good friend's DS went to Durham on a sports Btec, ended up with a First.

We're going to have a look at Edge Hill in a week or two, and YSJ| in November.

I agree the BTEC shouldn't restrict her. Most are points I think. My dd got A star A A. Which was some kind of real life miracle!

I think the only thing that would sway a job is if the person hiring has some kind of personal connection- or dislike - for a particular uni. The courses are supposed to be standardised. Open days should be useful

Thanks everyone x

I don’t think schools worry about where you train. It’s whether you can do the job or not. Has the candidate got great reports from placements. I would be surprised if many primary teachers had grades good enough for Oxbridge. Although no doubt some do, I’ve never met any.