QTS stands for Qualified Teacher Status.

It means that you have met the statutory requirements (Teachers' standards 2020) for teaching in England.

Our PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate of Education) includes QTS but is also an academic qualification recognised around the world.

Our PGCE can also give you 60 course credits towards achieving a Masters in Education.

School Direct programmes are led by groups of schools in partnership with a Higher Education Institution. In the case of Leeds Trinity School Direct partners, the University and partner schools work together to deliver the training programme. The PGCE qualification is still awarded by Leeds Trinity.

‘University-Led’ PGCE are courses led by Universities working in close partnership with schools. Leeds Trinity's PGCE provides you with the support, knowledge and experiences to enable you to become a qualified, professional teacher.

SCITT Programme is similar to the School Direct programme. SCITT programmes are run by schools or groups of schools, sometimes in partnership with a university. In the Leeds Trinity University SCITT, Leeds SCITT, the University and its Partnership schools work together to deliver the course.

The number of days spent in school-based training are virtually identical for each route – all trainees spend around 120 days across the year in the classroom.

The amount of teaching across each route is also the same, but the amount delivered by the University varies:

• University-led and School Direct Local – Leeds Trinity delivers the majority of teaching on campus
• School Direct Distance – teaching takes place in the Partnership lead school but is shared between the University and the partnership
• SCITT – the majority of teaching is delivered by and in school

They are a little different.

For all the routes to entry, you will need a degree and at least a GCSE Level 4/Grade C in maths and English.

If you intend to teach in a Primary school, you will also need a science subject at GCSE Level 4/Grade C.

You will need to attend an interview day, sometimes these are held in school, sometimes at university.

If you do not have the required qualifications for entry right now, Leeds Trinity University can support you in taking top-up and equivalency qualifications that will enable you to apply for the right course for you.

Leeds Trinity University has partnership schools for University-led, School Direct and SCITT programmes across the entire Yorkshire region, Tyneside and Teeside and has links with schools in Manchester, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and County Durham.

While in exceptional circumstances we can arrange University-led placements at distance, experience shows that it is easier to support trainees in schools within a two-hour journey radius from the Leeds Trinity campus.

University tutors visit trainees during placement and being within reasonable travelling distance makes this much easier to do.

For University-led courses, Leeds Trinity sources all Trainee placements.

We have a partnership of more than 1,000 schools across the region – although not all offer placements at the same time.

For School Direct and SCITT programmes, the lead schools in the partnership are, in the main, responsible for sourcing trainee placements.

Your PGCE is accredited and verified by Leeds Trinity University and qualifies you to work in any school in the age range for which you trained.

No – while some programmes may vary, all routes to entry must provide trainees with a minimum of 120 days in school.

Our university-led routes give you experience in school from the earliest days of your course.

Our Secondary course focuses either on the 11-16 age range (for most of our subjects) or the 14-19 age range (for Business Studies or Social Sciences).

For Primary education, you can choose to specialise in either Early Years (ages 3-7) or Later Years (5-11) during your PGCE year.

However, once you have QTS at the end of your course, you can apply for work teaching any age phase.