As the UK faces a crisis in teacher recruitment, the University of Worcester is stepping up to bolster the number of professionals in classrooms across the country.
One of the University of Worcester’s teaching graduates in the classroom
The University, recently rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted for its teacher training, is growing and expanding its reach, launching a number of pathways at locations across England, to help people become teachers in the communities where they live.
Applications open tomorrow (Tuesday, October 10) for graduates to begin their journey through the traditional university-based Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) route, and applications are already open for the undergraduate pathways. Now people can also explore a number of other new options, launching in the coming weeks.
New for 2024 are the University’s Regional Training Hubs, where students are based at a growing number of sites across Country, which are partnered with the University.
The hubs compliment the traditional offering of postgraduate courses.
Suzanne Lawson is the Principal Lecturer and Head of Strategic Partnerships for Secondary and Further Education at the University of Worcester. She says: “The key is breaking down the barriers which can make it harder to train as a teacher. If you’re a parent in Hereford, for example, and you’ve got obligations like work, or childcare, which might make travelling to Worcester everyday difficult, the Training Hub option might well be for you.”
The University has regional hubs as nearby as Worcester, Hereford, and Warwickshire and as far afield as Poole and Bournemouth.
The University has also partnered with the University of East Anglia to deliver first class teacher training at scale in the East of England from next year. This partnership brings the benefit of sharing best practices to enable both universities to expand and develop their work with the next generation of teachers.
In each of these areas, students study for a University of Worcester accredited course. The University of Worcester, one of the UK’s biggest educators of teachers, was praised as “exceptional” by Ofsted, who said the University creates “a learning community that places children at the heart of everyone’s endeavours”.
The Outstanding Ofsted report opens: “Trainees benefit from an exceptional learning experience at the University of Worcester. This experience instils in them a deep-rooted commitment to making a difference to the lives of the children in the communities they serve.”
Catriona Robinson, Head of the University’s Institute of Education, said: “As one of the Country’s largest and best educators of teachers, we are committed to doing all we can to share our knowledge and expertise and to help boost the numbers of outstanding teachers in classrooms across the Country.
“We know the difference that excellent educators make to our children and young people’s futures. Whether in school, college or university, a great teacher can shape who we are; can open our minds; help us to learn about the world and importantly, about ourselves.”