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PGCE with QTS: SEND

Specialist training for SEND settings at primary and secondary.

If you're already working in a SEND school or setting, as an unqualified teacher, teaching assistant or in learning support, you’re making an impact every day. Now’s the time to build on that experience and qualify as a teacher.

Find out more at a webinar

Designed for the SEND sector with SEND specialists

Our PGCE with QTS: SEND is designed for people like you, training within the setting you know best, whether it is a special school, a pupil referral unit, alternative provision within mainstream or another specialist setting. You’ll receive expert-led training and personalised support to help you thrive as a fully qualified teacher in SEND.

With academic study delivered online and one-to-one support from expert mentors (both in your school and from NITE), you can gain the knowledge, skills, confidence and qualification to lead learning in specialist settings.

Why train to teach with NITE?

School-based

Blending online learning with school-based practice

Excellent support

Tutorials and mentoring to support learning and deepen knowledge

Flexibility

Choose start dates and study times to suit you

Find the right route for you

I am an experienced teacher with a degree, working in SEND, but I don’t hold QTS

If you have a degree, you can achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through our PGCE with QTS: SEND in a primary or secondary SEND setting. With the support of your school, you can complete your training while employed through the Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship: PGCE SEND or our PGCE with QTS: SEND (Employed Route). With the apprenticeship your tuition fees are fully funded through your employer’s apprenticeship levy, meaning no tuition fee costs to you or your school.

If your school is not able to offer you a salaried route, they may be willing to host you while you complete a PGCE with QTS: SEND (Tuition-fee Funded).

Alternatively, if you have over two years of classroom teaching experience in more than one school, you may be able to achieve QTS in as little as four months through our Assessment-only Route to QTS.

I am a teaching assistant working in SEND and have a degree

If you have a degree, our PGCE with QTS: SEND can be completed full-time over one year, or part-time over two years. If your school is willing to re-contract you as an unqualified teacher you can continue to earn through the Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship: PGCE SEND or our PGCE with QTS: SEND (Employed Route). With the apprenticeship your tuition fees are fully funded through your employer’s apprenticeship levy.

If your school is not able to offer you a salaried route, they may be willing to host you while you complete a PGCE with QTS: SEND (Tuition-fee Funded).

I am working in a SEND setting, but don’t have a degree

If you are working in primary (5-11) you may be eligible for our Teacher Degree Apprenticeship: Primary Education. It’s a fully funded route that lets you earn while you learn—gaining hands-on classroom experience, building confidence, working towards your degree, and ultimately qualifying as a primary teacher.

If your pupils are older but access learning at a primary level, you may still be eligible for the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship: Primary Education, even if you’re based in a secondary or SEND setting.

If you are working with pupils learning at secondary level and supporting or teaching specific subjects, we do not currently offer an undergraduate teacher apprenticeship for secondary. In this case, you could consider our Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship, which includes a foundation degree and can be a valuable first step on the path to becoming a qualified teacher.

I am responsible for professional development at my school. I am interested in all routes to QTS for our unqualified staff

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Choose your course

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Postgraduate Teacher Apprenticeship: PGCE SEND

A nationally recognised, work-based route to QTS. Complete while employed as an unqualified teacher in SEND schools. England only.

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