Secondary PGCE to Primary?

Question

My girlfriend is currently doing a PGCE for secondary education (her degree was in geography). She is now wanting to change to qualify to teach in a primary school - Can this be done? Could she convert half way through her secondary pgce?

(The reason she didn't go for the primary PGCE is that her degree was a 2(ii) and not a 2(i) as was needed to do the primary course.)

Answer 1

She may need to take a break from study and restart a Primary course next year, as after Christmas the majority of the course will be spent on placements.

The best thing your girlfriend can do is talk it over with her tutor/mentor, as each training establishment will have slightly different regulations.

If she didn't have the required class of degree to start the course in September, they may not accept her now either. Or was she thinking of transferring to a different institution?

She may be best to keep her options open by doing a Middle Years (Key Stage 2/3) course, as this would qualify her to teach in both Primary and Secondary schools

Answer 2

Someon on my course last year swapped at about this time. A PGCE actually qualifies you to teach any age group from 6th form to nursery, so theoretically she can still apply for jobs in primary when she has finished secondary, but it'll be harder if she has little primary experience. The best way to find out is, obviously, for her to ask her uni, they all work differently, so no-one but them can give you a difinative answer.
But, she might want to stick with it if she wants a job at the end of it, there are many unemployed teachers out there, and she stands a better chance of getting a secondary job. There are lots of people from my course still unemployed (including me- I work in a shop and a pub, and not even supply work is sufficient to pay the bills), and I went to the UEA which is one of the best unis for the PGCE in England