HELP ..............DH turned down for PGCE (Teacher training and thinks its because I'm expecting our first dc.

[VickyLou]

Hi All,
Was looking for some advice regarding, what has turned out to completely bugger upany plans DH had for himself and any plans we had for our family.

He has just received his results for his degree and has passed with honours, he has wanted to teach for as long as I have known him. He has trained for 7 years to get this far.
He went for his interview for a PGCE course last week, he would have been teaching and studying at the same time. (I think that is how they work it anyway)
Anyway this morning he received a letter from the uni telling him that he has not been succesfull in his application. To say he is dissapointed is an understatment.

When he had his interview last week, I had asked him how it went and he said it seemed to go ok, but they has asked him lots of questions re homelife. Me being pregnant came up and he said that they seemed to disengage from him at that point, asking how do they think he would be able to cope with a demading course and job and also a new baby at home. Dont know where they thought I was gonna be!!!!

At the ende of the letter they have put, 'We hope you will understand that we are unable to provide individualfeedback in every case, and that this letter will be the onlt communication we can provide' WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess what I'mtrying to find out here is if my DH thinks it is because of my being pregnant that they have said no, is there anything we can do about it.

Sorry it's so long, I just need to get this off my chest.

xx

can he aply to another uni?

Thats very strange that they will not give individual feedback.
I'd say sumthings not right there

My DH was turned down for Primary PGCE by a cuople of places before he got his place.. what subject does he want to teach if it is over subscribed, then it will be difficult for him to get on - esp if you are going for the one where you work and train can he not do the PGCE full time and not get paid (just the 6K grant?) there are other places DH did his my distance which worked well for us do not give up!

The individual feedback aspect is very odd I have to say. How many courses has he applied to (my friends seems to apply for a number?) and is he waiting for any other offers?

Sod the letter, ring up and ask for feedback. I thought they have to give you copies of the interview notes and a reason they were not taken on the course if you ask for them ? But I might be wrong there.

Hi All,
thank you all foryour feedback, he has applied foronly one PGCE,I'm not 100% sure how it works but the college in our area was are doing the course through the Uni of huddersfield and will alow him to train in any basic subjects, such as English,Maths etc.
He eventually wants to go into music and arts side of teaching.

ZZMum - I didn'tknow that there were ones you can do without getting paid, I'm gonna have to have a look in to it.

I have been onnthe Teach.Gov website and have found out about an other teacing course with vacancies for actual music and arts teachers, which is only about an hour and a half away from us.

thank you all, glad it's not just me that thinks there is something a miss re not getting on the course.

Feeling a bit better now, am no longer in tears, thank you all.

I can't see that they would refuse him a place on the course due to you being pg, but stranger things have happened I spose.

My ex was turned down from PGCE course in music because of his intrument specialism - he was a percussionist and guitarist and they were very 'piano-biased' at this Uni (and very short-sighted as they were accepting 'brilliant' musicians who could not relate to kids at all at the same time as refusing my ex who was very personable, had experience with working with kids very successfully). HE got in eventually at a much more relaxed/forward-thinking Uni so I think sometimes it's to do with the prejudices of the head of the course. If it's very over-subscribed they will be trying to think of all sorts of reasons why they can refuse people. Definitely ask for feedback though - if no joy from the dept., take it higher up to the admissions dept. perhaps.

I think it's highly unlikely that he was turned down just because you are pregnant but, as someone said, stranger things have happened. What did he want to teach and which age group? What's his degree in?

Hi, His degree is in music technology and creativism.

The thing that has got him thinking that is was due to my being pregnant was because at the interview when asked if he would require any term time off and he said yes for the birth of the baby (he did not ask for paternity, but dont think that he would have got that anyway) they sort of disengaged from him and they did not seem bothered in him for the rest of the interview.

They asked him how he would cope with a baby and the PGCE (I dont think that they took in to account that I would be on mat leave) It's not like he would be main carer or anything if he is doing a full time PGCE I would be doing the majority of the childcare and housework as such.

I just wish that there wouldn have been somesort of feedback from them, so then at least my DH would have an idea of why.

Thank you all for all of your advice

xx

When I interviewed for my PGCE they did ask about home life and what sort of support I would have; I think they just wanted to make sure that I understood how absolutely demanding the course is. The PGCE year is incredibly intensive and the NQT year (first year working as a teacher) even more so. But I'd be surprised if he would be turned down just because of your pregnancy. It might just be that by this point in the year there aren't very many places left, if the course starts in September. I applied in October and interviewed in January when I did mine, so it would almost certainly be worth him applying again next year but doing it earlier. Also if he hasn't done any work experience in schools yet he should probably try to fix some up, that can make a big difference as it shows you're serious and that you have a good understanding of what you're letting yourself in for. I hope it goes better for him next time if he does decide to reapply.

VickyLou - you mentioned the possibility of working and training at the same time: these courses have limited places and it is generally very competitive to get on them. I know people who have had a lot of hands-on experience in school who have been turned down for places on these courses: don't let it put you/him off!

Also, many TT colleges are happy to church out endless graduates, and then when they get to the marketplace they find there are no jobs: especially in primary. In our area NQTs are finding it extremely hard to find jobs, and there isn't the supply around that there used to be.

I think it entirely right and proper that TT colleges are being as selective as possible and choosing the best candidates from the applicants they have.

If I were your dh I would try and get into schools immediately as much as possible to get some experience. Also many TT colleges run taster courses, and so on that would be worth enquiring about.

Thank you, fleacircus and rosin, you have given me and DH (I showed him the thread) a different perspective on the whole PGCE issue.

It's good to know that all is not lost. He is gonna apply again, but for a course next year and think about maybe trying to get some voluntary work in schools to see if that gives him a better chance when he re-applies.

I was just so for him as he has worked so so hard, and we have had to give up on a lot of things so that he could get to where he is now. And the fact that he cant even ring or write to them to get feedback from them has made him and me so about the whole thing.

He has been on the internet most of last night seeing what there is out there job wise, so hopefully he will be able to at least get some sort of voluntary un-paid placement.

I want to thank you all for all of your advice and feedback.

xx

Roisin not rosin, sorry

xx