Practice Education PGCert

Postgraduate

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The Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) in Practice Education has been designed to build on your early career development and to facilitate your development as an experienced and expert practitioner in social work with the ability to teach, mentor and assess others in the workplace.

Year of entry

2025-26

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Part-time
Online/Blended

Duration

2 years part-time

Course code

HLST173

Start date

September 2025
January 2026

How to apply

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The information on this page is for 2024-25 entry and should be used as guidance for 2025-26 entry. Please keep checking back on this course page to see our latest updates.

Course overview

The aim of this course is to give practising social workers the opportunity to enhance their career prospects via gaining a postgraduate level qualification.

The programme is designed to equip you with the knowledge, values and skills required to gain both stage 1 and 2 of the PEPS (Practice Educator’s Professional Standards) and assess others in the workplace.

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

Ranked 9th Modern University in UK by the Times

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

Ranked 8th for Overall Satisfaction in PTES

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2024

Why you should study this course

Designed to give you the opportunity to develop your practice, extend your range of skills and enhance your critical reflective skills with the aim of improving service delivery.
Intended to be a key vehicle for social workers to gain an academic award at the same time as meeting their CPD, which is required by the current regulator.
Study part-time, allowing you to work towards your post-graduate certificate while in employment.
Opportunities may also be available within the faculty to progress your studies beyond the Postgraduate Certificate to a full master’s degree (subject to successfully completing the PGCert, application and additional fees).
A course team with expertise in working with learners who are mature, from diverse backgrounds or have a range of individual learning needs.

What you'll study

The curriculum of this course is shaped by a number of requirements in social work practice, some of which are specific to the practice educator role. This includes the relevant levels of the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF), the Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSS) and more directly, the Practice Educator’s Professional Standards (PEPS).

Modules

The Developing Practitioner in Social Work - 20 credits

This module aims to develop your professional social work practice. You will engage with your employers in a year of assessed and supported learning while applying knowledge, skills and theory to your own practice. This reflective practice will be encapsulated within the assessment, which requires you to submit a nationally recognised portfolio that critically assesses your own practice.

Compulsory

Mentoring, Supervision and Assessment in Practice Part 1 - 10 credits

This module is Part 1 of two which aims to prepare you to act as enablers of others’ learning by developing knowledge of theories, concepts and processes of practice education in the context of an explicit value base. You will develop knowledge and skills in relation to:

organising opportunities for the demonstration of assessed competence/capability in practice
enabling learning and professional development in practice
managing the assessment of learners in practice
mentoring and supporting learners and colleagues in contemporary care settings.

This module (part 1) will enable you to begin to achieve the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS 1) for social workers. Part 2 will enable you to fully meet PEPS 1.

It is a requirement of the PEPS that you are social worker with at least two years of experience.

Compulsory

Mentoring, Supervision and Assessment in Practice Part 2 - 10 credits

This module is Part 2 of two modules that aim to prepare you to act as enablers of others’ learning by developing knowledge of theories, concepts and processes of practice education in the context of an explicit value base. You will develop knowledge and skills in relation to:

continue to organise opportunities for the demonstration of assessed competence/capability in practice
continue to enable learning and professional development in practice
continue to manage the assessment of learners in practice
mentoring and supporting learners and colleagues in contemporary social work settings.

This module (part 2), alongside the successful completion of 7000SW (part 1) will enable you to achieve the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS 1). The module Practice Teaching and Education (70001SW parts 1 and 2) will enable you to fully meet the PEPS 2.

It is a requirement of the PEPS that you are a social worker with at least two years of experience.

Compulsory

Practice, Teaching and Education Part 1 - 10 credits

This module aims to build on your ability to manage professional learning processes at pre- and post-qualifying level in social work environments. You will critically examine their role as a Practice Educator, critically reflect on your knowledge of relevant theory and models of learning, methods of assessment, and develop strategies for supporting professional development and capabilities within an explicit value base. This module builds on the PEPS 1 (covered in module 7000SW and 7018SW) of the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) for social workers and enables you, as a registered social worker, to supervise final placement social work students and begin to meet PEPS 2.

It is a requirement of the PEPS that you are a social worker with at least three years' relevant work experience and qualified for two years.

Compulsory

Practice, Teaching and Education Part 2 - 10 credits

This module aims to build on learning from 7001SW, and continue to enhance your ability to manage professional learning processes at pre-qualifying level in social work environments. You will continue to critically examine their role as a Practice Educator, critically reflect on your knowledge of relevant theory and models of learning, methods of assessment, and develop strategies for supporting professional development and capabilities within an explicit value base. This module builds on the PEPS 1 (covered in module 7000SW and 7018SW) of the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) for social workers and enables you, as a registered social worker, to supervise final placement social work students and fully meet PEPS 2.

It is a requirement of the PEPS that candidates you are a social worker with at least three years' relevant work experience and qualified for two years.

Compulsory

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

The course is delivered on a part-time basis studied over a two-year period to try and meet the needs of social workers who wish to study alongside their professional practice as part of their continuing professional development.

The course is planned to be delivered using a blended learning approach of both classroom teaching (taught at the Coventry University main campus in Coventry) and online learning and will be taught over the following methods:

Online discussions
Online tasks
Classroom teaching.

The strategy is also designed to enable you to be critically reflective in your own work setting and to be able to recognise not only your own development needs but the development needs of your team or service and of pre-qualifying social work students. This involves a transition from initially supported and guided study to more independent and self-directed study.

This course can be offered on a part-time basis. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Request further information about part-time study.

Teaching contact hours

The teaching hours will vary by module, however, the expected total would be 31 hours of seminars, 5 hours of tutorials, 12 hours of lectures plus 125 hours of self-guided study and 426 hours of work-based learning.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the University may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.

Assessment methods may include:

Supervision notes
Direct observation
Presentations
Written assignments
Nationally recognised portfolio.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.

Please note that most applicants for this course are sponsored by their employers. This means you will need to contact your learning and development team/relevant department before any application.

Applicants must hold a professional qualification in social work and be registered with the relevant regulator.

All applicants will have two years post qualification experience in order to comply with the requirements of the Practice Educator Professional Standards.

Applicants to the course will be required to supervise a social work student/learner, sourced by the university and its partners, for the modules Mentoring, Supervision and Assessment in Practice Parts 1 and 2 and Practice Teaching and Education Parts 1 and 2.

Accreditation for Prior Learning (APL) and Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning AP(E)L is in accordance with university regulations as set out in paragraph 7b.3.2 and 7b.3.3 of the regulations for taught postgraduate courses

For further information about the course and how to apply, please contact Amanda Fitchett on ac0159@coventry.ac.uk.

Fees and funding

Student	Full-time	Part-time
UK	Not available	2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees -£3,733 part time total fee

For advice and guidance on tuition fees³and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

As this course is taken as a blend of online and in-person teaching, a large portion of it will use our online teaching platform, which is currently Aula. This course is also part of the School of Psychological, Social and Behavioural Sciences and therefore any in-person teaching will take place in our school buildings⁴.

Aula is an online teaching resource, allowing you to interact with online lectures, receive detailed feedback quickly on all assessments and communicate to your fellow students in an online learning community.

Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Show that you have developed your social work practice
Show that you have a comprehensive and critical understanding of the requirements of the Practice Education Professional Standards (PEPS) Stage 1 and their application to the theoretical underpinnings of adult learning and the supervision and assessment of others
Demonstrate skills and knowledge aligned with the relevant levels of the Professional Capabilities Framework and the Knowledge and Skills Statements
Evidence a critical understanding of practice education paradigms, an awareness of ethical dilemmas and a consolidation of your learning around anti-oppressive practice when working with students and newly qualified social workers (NQSW)
Show that you have developed a comprehensive and critical understanding of the requirements of the Practice Education Professional Standards (PEPS) Stage 2 and their application to the theoretical underpinnings of adult learning and the supervision and assessment of others.

All students on this course will already be in employment as qualified social workers. However, the course aims to enhance employability through a variety of initiatives including providing opportunities to further develop transferable skills (e.g. communication and assessment skills, leadership and mentoring skills). These skills help develop the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments.

You will also have access to employability support and can be given assistance with writing CVs and job applications upon request.

How to apply

UK students

Disclaimers

Coventry University together with Coventry University London, Coventry University Wrocław, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough, and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the University) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University.

¹Accreditations, partnerships and memberships

The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply. See the relevant body website for more details). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships are subject to successful renewal in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery. If the accreditation, recognition or membership of this course changes, we will seek to notify applicants and students as soon as possible.

Where relevant, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) module content is undergoing assessment by the CMI to confirm that all criteria are met to the required standard. Whilst it is expected that students who successfully pass the module will be eligible to be considered by CMI for the CMI Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice as an additional qualification, we cannot confirm this until the accreditation is approved. This is a normal part of the continuous improvement process for our courses to ensure they remain up-to-date and reflect best practice.

²UK and international opportunities

Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or international opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be unpaid and/or subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel, public authority guidance, decisions or orders and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand any visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

³Tuition fees

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

⁴Facilities

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

Student Contract

By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the current 2024/2025 contract is available on the website for information purposes however the 2025/2026 contract will apply for the 2025/2026 intake. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.

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Student life

Accommodation

Fees and funding

Practice Education PGCert

Course overview

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

Ranked 9th Modern University in UK by the Times

Ranked 8th for Overall Satisfaction in PTES

Why you should study this course

What you'll study

Modules

How you'll learn

Teaching contact hours

Assessment

Entry requirements

Fees and funding

Irish student fees

Facilities

Careers and opportunities

How to apply

¹Accreditations, partnerships and memberships

²UK and international opportunities

³Tuition fees

⁴Facilities

Student Contract

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