ABSTRACT
Once you have decided (if you decide) that you want to train to become a teacher, most of you will then have more decisions to make. That is, in many countries prospective student teachers also have a choice about which of two or more broad types of ITT programme (or routes into teaching) they could follow, and in many countries you will have a further choice about which particular training provider or institution you would like to be trained by (and therefore apply to). In England there are (at the time of writing) over 200 providers of ITT courses and, though not all providers offer all ITT routes, prospective student teachers have a choice between a number of different broad types of ITT programme. The main ones, and those followed by the trainees in our research study, are listed below:
University-administered Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programmes. These programmes typically last for one year and involve input from a higher education institution (HEI), and time spent in schools, which work in partnership with the HEI. More recently, Flexible PGCE programmes have been introduced, which contain the same training elements as a traditional PGCE programme but can be undertaken over a longer period of time.
Undergraduate HEI-administered programmes. These prog rammes lead to the award of a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc) or Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree with Qualifed Teacher Status (QTS). As with PGCE programmes, these degrees have input from both HEIs and partnership schools, although they typically last three or four years.
School-centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) programmes. These are normally organised and run by single schools or consortia of schools and typically last for one academic year. HEIs may or may not contribute to SCITT programmes, some of which are able to award a PGCE in addition to QTS.
Graduate and Registered Teacher Programmes (GTP and RTP, collectively known as GRTP). These are employment-based routes into teaching. In both programmes student teachers are employed in a teaching post 26whilst studying towards QTS. In the GTP student teachers already have a degree and (if successful) typically achieve QTS after the first year, whereas those undertaking the RTP complete their degree at the same time as undertaking teacher training and normally take around two years before being awarded QTS.
