Teacher Training?

thegirlintheattic

Vejovis wrote: »

the op wants to become a teaching assistant first, hence the link. far better to do that course and have 240 points toward a degree, than an NVQ and then have to study a full 360 points.

I'm pretty sure, though may be wrong, that you need 360 credits on one degree course to access a PGCE, not 360 credits made up of several different qualifications. OP you need to check this with the TDA or local teacher training provider.

You do not need a foundation degree, or any course, to become a TA. If the OP wants to do a vocational TA qualification there are cheaper courses available from many colleges. Personally, in the OPs shoes, I wouldn't throw money at a qualification that couldn't be used to realise my long term career goal and is that specific, I would save that money to work towards a full degree that will meet the long-term goal.

Vejovis

for an OU open degree which is perfectly acceptable for PGCE you can take your 360 points from any course, you can make it up entirely of 60 point courses if you choose to.

thegirlintheattic

Vejovis wrote: »

for an OU open degree which is perfectly acceptable for PGCE you can take your 360 points from any course, you can make it up entirely of 60 point courses if you choose to.

As you do for any degree course and it's made up of a number of courses at three different levels, however, a foundation degree and then a NVQ are two separate qualifications, not a degree made up of different modules. I am not saying an OU degree is not acceptable, I'm saying a foundation degree followed by a NVQ is not the same as a degree and, as far as I''m aware, does not qualify someone for teacher training. You can sometimes transfer credits from previous study (with NVQs from level 4 and above) but this must be done at the start of the degree course not after the degree has been awarded.

It would be like collecting 6 certificates worth 60 credits and claiming I had a degree from that. Doesn't work.

This page shows how many credits at what levels are required for each qualification: http://www8.open.ac.uk/study/explained/study-explained/building-your-qualification/what-are-credits

As I said, the OP needs to contact either the OU, a teacher training college or the TDA to check if the course she chooses will be accepted. Better be safe than spend £££ to find out the course is not acceptable.

liney

If you look at the entry requirements from a few university PGCE providers, ideally the ones you will be applying to (!) you will see that the requirements tend to be: a 2.1 in a national curriculum subject which relates directly to what you want to teach. Primary tend to specify a 'core national curriculum' subject. Also, a minimum X days experience in school with the age group you wish to to teach in the last 12 months.

OU degree's are acceptable, but if I were you i'd stick to a Named Degree instead of one of their Open Degrees, where it is easy to demostrate your course was at least 50% national curriculum subject, preferably more.

Vejovis

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

As you do for any degree course and it's made up of a number of courses at three different levels, however, a foundation degree and then a NVQ are two separate qualifications, not a degree made up of different modules. I am not saying an OU degree is not acceptable, I'm saying a foundation degree followed by a NVQ is not the same as a degree and, as far as I''m aware, does not qualify someone for teacher training. You can sometimes transfer credits from previous study (with NVQs from level 4 and above) but this must be done at the start of the degree course not after the degree has been awarded.

It would be like collecting 6 certificates worth 60 credits and claiming I had a degree from that. Doesn't work.

This page shows how many credits at what levels are required for each qualification: http://www8.open.ac.uk/study/explained/study-explained/building-your-qualification/what-are-credits

As I said, the OP needs to contact either the OU, a teacher training college or the TDA to check if the course she chooses will be accepted. Better be safe than spend £££ to find out the course is not acceptable.

i dont believe i said the foundation followed by an NVQ, i said instead of an NVQ. then the OP would only need 120 points from another course rather than waste time doing an NVQ, then still have to start from scratch doing 360 points.

anyway its up to the OP, i was just trying to show alternatives to a quicker route.

heretolearn_2

VJovis - I'm sorry if we just seem to be doing our best to contradict you, but you are giving very poor advice. The degree you have MUST have a certain proportion of a key national curriculum subject (currently 50% overall, with at least 33% from one area) just to meet the minimum level of eligibility, and in reality due to the high competition for teacher training places, you need 100%.

Doing as you suggest would result in a degree that doesn't meet the basic eligibility for teacher training. The OU itself advises clearly that the teaching assistant qualification is NOT appropriate if you want to go on to do teacher training and that you have to do a subject degree.

An Open degree is an option, possibly, but you would need to plan it very carefully and probably with advice from the teacher training provider you were hoping to apply to.

The OU has a great careers section on its website, OP, with a lot of information on teacher training and the different routes in, and what qualifications you need to get first.

I'm only pushing on this as she stated she wanted to eventually do teacher training. By getting started on an OU degree early next year it won't cost her a penny from her description of her circumstances. That's worth making your mind up quickly about! It also only applies to courses linked to a degree, not lower level qualifications.

laurenweird

Thank you to everyone for all the help sorting out all the different options! I've taken it all on board and will be thinking seriously about it for the next few days. You've all been so nice to go out of your way to reply back to help me.