What is a PGDE?

A PGDE may refer to two different postgraduate teacher training qualifications. More common is the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education, the Scottish equivalent to the PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate of Education). The other is the Postgraduate Diploma in Education, a more advanced teacher training qualification studied in England and Wales worth double the CATS credits (120). Neither PGDE is a Masters degree, but the credits can be put towards earning one.

What’s more Scottish than postgraduate teacher training? Actually…don’t answer that. We’d probably get through various people, inanimate objects and things not actually Scottish before getting to a PGDE. Plus, there’s the other PGDE mentioned above (ugh), but that’s not the one people usually talk about. I’ll be sticking to the Scottish PGDE in this guide, for the most part.

The obvious question is, “What’s the difference between the PGCE and the PGDE?”, which we’ll get to. Still, it’s not just going to be a comparison exercise—I’ll also talk about the PGDEs requirements, what you’ll study and the all-important funding. If you’re ready to look for programmes, we do host PGDEs on our website. I’ve even filtered to Scottish institutions so you don’t get pranked by the other PGDE variety (I accept thanks in the form of sharing this with your friends, loved ones and worst enemies).

PGCE vs PGDE

Similarities

The two qualifications are more similar than different, honestly. Both programmes:

• Are postgraduate teacher training qualifications.
• Require at least a 2:2 or equivalent in a related undergraduate degree to apply.
• Require appropriate grades in English and maths (though the specifics are slightly different).
• Have primary/secondary specialisms along with specialisms by subject.
• Have government funding available (though not the same kind).
• Are internationally recognised.
• Contain a theory component and a practical placement at schools.
• Give credits you can use towards a full Masters degree (typically a Masters in Education).
• Take a year to study full time, or two years part time.
• Require a criminal convictions check (DBS in England and Wales, and a check from Disclosure Scotland for the country in its name, obviously).

Differences

Now, what sets the PGDE apart from the PGCE, aside from being taught in Scotland?

• The PGDE is only offered by universities—the PGCE can be offered by non-university training providers.
• The PGDE doesn’t give QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) as Scotland has a separate qualification system.
• The PGDE focusses on the Scottish education system, which has a number of differences with the English system (mostly out of scope to talk about in this article).
• If you’re from Scotland, the UK, the Republic of Ireland or are a settled EU student, the PGDE guarantees a year of full-time employment after completion. The PGCE has no such guarantees.
• The PGDE has stricter requirements on undergraduate subject relevancy for a secondary PGDE (more on that later).
• The PGDE has three fee tracks: Scottish resident students (cheapest), rest of UK, then international (most expensive). The PGCE only has UK and international fees.

Is a PGDE or a PGCE better?

There are a few factors which will weigh in one which will be better for your specific circumstances.

Where do you want to work after your teacher training?

If you’d like to work in Scotland, a PGDE makes sense—you’ll learn about (and be immersed in) the Scottish education system. For similar reasons, a PGCE makes more sense if you’ll work in the rest of the UK (plus you get QTS). Of course, you can get a PGDE and work in England (and vice versa), but you’ll have less hoops to jump through this way around.

What funding is available?

The government bursaries available are regional, typically. This is especially true of the Scottish government bursary, where you’ll need to both study in Scotland and be a Scottish resident to apply. That makes doing a PGDE slightly awkward for a non-Scottish resident, though a Scottish resident can apply for the English bursary if they’re studying a PGCE in England. Student loans are an option, of course, but bursaries are more appealing given you don’t need to pay them back (free money, woo!).

Are you okay with a university-led approach?

In England, you can train via school-led PGCEs—these get you into school faster and (supposedly) involve less paperwork. For a PGDE, your only option is a university-led approach. You can read more about these in our UK postgraduate teacher training guide.

What are my options for studying a PGDE?

PGDE entry requirements

I mentioned about how the entry requirements differ (or not) between the PGDE and the PGCE. Let’s dig a little more into the undergraduate degree requirements for teaching in secondary (ages 11-16), since it’s quite complex. If you’re angling for teaching primary (5-10), skip to the next section.

Before we start, you need to know what SCQF credits are (I’d explain the acronym, but no one uses the full version). If you’ve heard of CATS credits, it’s a similar deal—it’s a way to track academic progress in qualifications. There’s a slight difference in that CATS is specific to higher education while SCQF isn’t, but the principle is the same, and 1 CATS = 1 SCQF.

In any case, to study a PGDE at secondary level, you’ll need 80 SCQF credits, which represents 800 ‘notional learning hours’. So if you want to do a PGDE in Secondary Maths, you’ll need to prove around 800 hours of your undergraduate degree focussed on maths.  

At least, that’s the baseline for PGDEs in general. Often requirements are even more specific, such as detailing that 40 of those points are concerned with specific topics (like algebra) and/or they need to be at a certain level (e.g., ‘Year 2 Level’).

If you don’t meet the SCQF requirements, you may be able to ‘top up’, typically up to a maximum threshold (such as 30 points). You’ll need to talk to the university admission department for how that works.

Also, if you studied in Europe, 1 ECTS credit (the European version of SCQF) = 2 SCQF credits. Hope that helps!

What do you study on a PGDE?

You’ll be studying ‘pedagogy’, which is what you call ‘the method and practice of teaching’ if you like crosswords. The specifics vary somewhat between universities, but your study modules may cover subjects such as:

• Scottish school curriculum and placement information.
• The theory and policy underpinning the Scottish education system.
• Behaviour management (how you get Noah to stop throwing paper airplanes, the little blighter).
• How to self-reflect to become a better teacher.

Aside from that, there’ll be what you learn on your placements. You’ll be working together with a member of university staff and a school mentor to get the most of your time, and you’ll be both observing classes and teaching them yourself (but you won’t be solo teaching straight away).

PGDE fees and funding

As I mentioned, PGDE fees are split into three groups: Scottish residents, rest of the UK, and international. At time of writing, fees were as follows for full-time programmes:

• Scottish residents: £1,820
• Rest of UK: £9,535
• International: Roughly £22,500 (uncapped, so varies considerably—this figure was from one university).

If you’re a Scottish resident, your student finance is paid as if it was an undergraduate degree, and will be run through SAAS (Student Awards Agency Scotland). You won’t normally have to repay your tuition fees, but if you need a maintenance loan to keep you housed, that will need to be repaid.

You may also be eligible for a bursary from the Scottish government if you’re aiming to teach a hard to fill subject. It’s £15,000 in total, and the included subjects are, at time of writing:

• Physics
• Maths
• Technical Education
• Computing Science
• Chemistry
• Home Economics
• Gaelic as a secondary subject
• Gaelic (as a medium for teaching a primary or secondary subject)

Aside from the usual PGDE requirements, you’ll also need to have “been in paid employment for at least 36 months out of the last 84 months (including career breaks and any periods of furlough)”. So I suppose if you’re angling for a PGDE bursary right out of university, you might want work another job first (might I suggest ‘teaching assistant’?).

You can find out more about (and apply for) the Scottish teaching bursary at the official website.

If you’re not a Scottish resident, you’ll have to apply for funding with your local authority (for England, that would be Student Finance England). You won’t be eligible for the Scottish bursary if you’re not a Scottish resident, unfortunately.

Tips from the author

#1 Get some classroom experience before applying

The gold standard is to work as a teaching assistant for a while, but even sitting in on a class will be very helpful for your application. Doing the former will also help you be eligible for the Scottish bursary if you’re currently fresh out of undergrad, so it’s something of a ‘two birds, one stone’ approach. Ideally you shouldn’t just be a TA for bursary reasons, of course (the students may detect the somewhat glazed-over look in your eyes if so).

#2 On your placement, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel

By which I mean, you don’t have to produce all the resources yourself in a way that’s never been done before. You’ll be a very busy bee just doing your PGDE, so trying to become a trailblazer in everything you do is likely to lead to burnout. By all means, put your own spin on things and make new resources if it makes sense, but there’s nothing wrong with following in people’s footsteps. You’ll have a (hopefully) long career ahead of you—save the fire for where it counts.

#3 Unless you’re planning on doing a full Masters later, don’t stress about your PGDE grade

School employers want to know you’re qualified, so having the PGDE will be essential to getting a job after your programme. Your actual grade, though…as long as you passed, no one on the employment side is likely to care. Common advice is to do as much as is absolutely required for your coursework and put the majority of effort into your placements, so I’ll echo that. Your future students will also not give a monkey’s how good you are at writing 4,000 word essays on pedagogy (if they do, you may be having a very weird nightmare).

Frequently asked questions