About the Course

York St John University is the accredited provider for this PGCE Secondary school centred programme which is a postgraduate fee-funded route.

Pathfinder Teaching School Hub (TSH) is a Lead Partner, working in partnership with York St John University (YSJ) to deliver this high-quality teacher training and education programme which leads to a PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This school-centred programme fully meets the Department for Education Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Criteria/Quality Requirements. It is full time over the academic year (early September – end June) and covers the 11-16 age phase with 16-19 enhancement. 

The key aim of our PGCE Secondary programme is to deliver a high quality current and relevant programme of training and education that equips you with the professional knowledge, understanding, skills and attributes that you need to become highly effective teachers (and leaders) with both a strong subject and wider professional identity. Partnership is at the heart of this PGCE Secondary programme where the combination of experienced university, school based and other external colleagues working in partnership, makes a powerful and inspiring teaching team for you.

Whilst you will be placed in the Pathfinder TSH partnership schools for the majority of the year (a base school for the majority of time with a six week placement in a contrasting school) you will also have timetabled academic sessions. The PGCE is made up of two Masters level modules  and leads to the award of a PGCE (as well as recommendation for QTS). Successful completion of modules will give you 60 credits towards a Masters degree. Thus, the programme combines school experience with taught sessions of subject knowledge, pedagogy and academic assignments at the university and partnership schools.

You will follow an ambitious curriculum that we have designed together as the YSJ/Pathfinder TSH partnership. This is underpinned by the ITT Core Content Framework and YSJ Partnership five key themes. Your professional development will be underpinned throughout the programme by essential theoretical knowledge and current local, national and international research and developments that will support and shape your teaching practice. Our PGCE programme also includes four Intensive Training and Practice (ITAPs) opportunities which are intended to enable you to focus on specific areas of the curriculum where you can apply theory to practice and receive focussed feedback on your practice, which you can then use to support subsequent practice.  This is in addition to the on-going school experience you will undertake on the programme where you will also receive feedback and support from your experienced mentor and YSJ/Pathfinder TSH Lead Mentor. 

Your learning on the programme is carefully sequenced to ensure a coherent, layered spiral curriculum which enables you to revisit key concepts and ideas to support your developing knowledge, understanding and teaching skills.  You will be expected to critically engage with all elements of the programme and develop as a reflective practitioner, to enable you to evaluate and adapt your practice to meet the needs of diverse learners in the secondary school classroom.

You are fully supported throughout the programmes.  You will have a comprehensive induction prior to commencing the programme and will benefit from the full range of university services (e.g. writing and academic support, wellbeing services, library and IT, career support etc).  

You will be given the opportunity to select the school you would like to have one of two placements in. This means you can pick one of your placement schools from our partnership and we will pick the other placement school based on your personal and practical circumstances and our large pool of schools across the region – I.e. including and extending the list of schools mentioned above. Placement capacity in each school is limited to what they are able to offer per subject and will change over the year as recruitment of student teachers develops.

What makes our course unique?

In addition to the fact that you get to pick 1 of your 2 placement schools, 50% of your theoretical research-led training will come from York St John University and 50% from Pathfinder. Nearly all of your training at University will be subject based while the training at Pathfinder covers a programme of wider professional studies.

Pathfinder TSH has a strong local and national reputation based on our successes for supporting and training staff in the profession. We’ve engaged with hundreds of schools and staff on key programmes linked to SEND and leadership. Our work on adaptive teaching in particular has gained national recognition where we work with schools up and down the country to support them in better meeting the needs of their young people with additional needs. 

Inclusion and belonging is central to the way we approach all areas of education. From the very beginning we will train and support you to feel confident and inspired to support all children from all backgrounds. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is built into the fabric of our taught curriculum where you learn best practice and critically engage with research. In every taught session we deliver, we always build in time to consider how the content connects to potential barriers linked to, for example, neurodiversity, SEND or underserved communities.

Pathfinder TSH has a partnership with Hope Sentamu Learning Trust, and Joseph Rowntree School. We work together on multiple aspects of the course but in particular, the delivery of the taught sessions and school placements. You will hear all about our partners when you come to interview for your place on the course, with a full breakdown of each school. Please find a brief summary below:

Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust

Our Trust contains two secondary schools – Archbishop Holgate’s School and Malton School. In addition, we also have a Special School in our Trust – Applefields Special School.

Heartwood Learning Trust

Our partner Trust contains 6 secondary schools – Archbishop Sentamu Academy, Balby High School, George Pindar, Graham, Manor Church of England Academy, and Vale of York Academy. In addition, they also have two Alternative Provision sites – Aspire Academy and Compass Academy

Joseph Rowntree School

Our Partner school – The Joseph Rowntree School – is an 11-18 comprehensive school of over 1300 students and includes a small enhanced resource provision for pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition. The school is a local authority-maintained school and was judged to be ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2022. 

Taught Curriculum

In addition to your subject-specific training at York St John University, here is an example of some of the sessions that we run during the year:

• Resonant leadership, wellbeing and integrity
• SEND and inclusive pedagogy
• Climate for learning
• Assessment for learning and responsive teaching
• How we learn and an overview of various learning theories
• Lesson planning and curriculum design
• Connecting with all students but especially those from vulnerable groups or disadvantaged backgrounds
• Data and tracking
• EAL
• Working with parents and families
• Pastoral care
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and trauma-informed care
• Professionalism
• Literacy across the curriculum
• Numeracy across the curriculum
• Voice management

Working in partnership with schools, the programme aims to:

• Develop high academic and professional standards for new teachers entering the profession underpinned by the development of ‘principle-based’ values
• Provide a high-quality experience of Initial Teacher Education within the partnership that fosters retention and a commitment to on-going professional development
• Integrate theory and practice throughout the programme to support professional learning, subject knowledge and pedagogy
• Promote the intellectual and professional development of student teachers through engagement with current research and policy in teaching and wider education
• Develop student teachers as independent researchers who are able to critically engage and influence their professional community
• Enable student teachers to become skilled, creative, reflective and transformative professionals equipped to take responsibility for the progress of all children and young people
• Provide an enriched curriculum that enables students to meet the statutory requirements of the Teachers’ Standards whilst providing opportunities to set these within a wider educational context

Fees and Funding

Click here to access information about tuition fees, maintenance loans, bursaries and scholarships. By training to teach with Pathfinder and York St John University, you will still be entitled to all of the usual financial support available to PGCE students.

Teaching and Assessment

By working with York St John University and Pathfinder TSH, you’ll have access to world-leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace. You will work with experienced teachers from across the partnership schools and YSJ. In addition to this you will be allocated a Mentor in each placement school who will work with you and train you on a day-to-day basis.

As one of our Initial Teacher Trainees, you will be joining the Pathfinder Teaching School Hub community. We are one of only 82 highly regarded and prestigious Department for Education centres for teacher training and development. We serve the North Yorkshire Coast, Ryedale, and York, where we work with over 200 schools on an annual basis. Our remit is to provide the golden thread of teacher training and development supporting staff from ITT all the way through to Headship and Executive Leadership positions. You will therefore benefit from the support of very strong and capable staff. 

Inclusion and belonging is central to the way we approach all areas of education. From the very beginning we will train and support you to feel confident and inspired to support all children from all backgrounds. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is built into the fabric of our taught curriculum where you learn best practice and critically engage with research. In every taught session we deliver, we always build in time to consider how the content connects to potential barriers linked to, for example, neurodiversity, SEND or underserved communities. 

The Pathfinder TSH side of provision is designed and delivered in partnership between Pathfinder Multi-Academy Trust (covering 2 secondary schools and 1 Special School), Hope Sentamu Learning Trust (covering 6 secondary schools and two Alternative Provision schools), Huntington School, and Joseph Rowntree School. We work together on multiple aspects of the course but in particular, the delivery of the taught sessions and school placements. This will greatly benefit your training and future career opportunities.

In addition to the formal training curriculum, you will have access to a wide range of opportunities such as staff training days, our national CPD training programmes (provided at no additional cost), established relationships with senior staff in a range of schools, enrichment events such as trips, visits and community initiatives, and more. In addition to this, Pathfinder TSH provides and monitors the statutory entitlement of training and support for all Early Career Teachers in our region. This means that if you do gain employment in this region, you will continue to work with Pathfinder TSH for 2 years as you develop as an Early Career Teacher. 

Teaching format

Participation in the PGCE course is an active process. Although there are lectures and presentations, much of your learning will come from workshops, seminars and school and classroom activities with strategies and techniques for an effective learning environment in your placement classrooms.

Trainees come to the course with a range of qualifications, employment background and interests. Throughout the course you will be encouraged to work collaboratively, sharing your experience, knowledge and technical expertise.

Throughout the course you will be guided by mentors in your placement schools and supported in school and in your PTSH and YSJ groups.

Teaching location

Depending on the session, you will either attend your training at York St John University or Pathfinder Teaching School Hub which is based at Archbishop Holgate’s School. 

School placements take place across the region. We take many factors into consideration when allocating placements and will work with you to ensure you can get to your placement safely and easily. 

Assessment

You’ll complete just two academic assignments:

The primary aim of the course is to enable you to meet, and ideally exceed, the Teachers’ Standards and be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).  You will also be awarded a PGCE from York St John University at Masters level.

Entry Requirements

• 2:2 or equivalent in your selected subject. We also accept combined honours degrees where your selected subject makes up at least 50% of the award.
• If your undergraduate degree is not in your selected subject or a related subject, we may still may be able to offer you a place if you also have a postgraduate degree in your selected subject or Grade B in A level of your selected subject.
• If your undergraduate degree is not at least 50% of your selected subject, we may require you to undertake a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course prior to starting your PGCE.

Additional requirements

• GCSE Mathematics grade 4 (C)
• GCSE English grade 4 (C)

If you are shortlisted, we will invite you to a selection event and you should present a passport or photo driving license. You can present other forms of photo ID for the selection event, but if you do, you will still need to present valid identity documents required by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) prior to starting your course.

If English is not your first language, you must have an IELTS score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in all skills or equivalent. For equivalents see our English language entry requirements.

We welcome applications from people seeking a career change into teaching. We actively encourage applications from those groups under-represented in teacher education to ensure the teaching profession represents the diverse nature of present-day UK society.

Further information about government requirements for teacher training.

What our Trainees Say

The Pathfinder ITT programme will provide you with a high quality, school centred training programme for the whole year. But don’t just take our word for it. We have been training student teachers for a number of years now. Let them tell you what they think…

Placement Locations

Our Pathfinder TSH student teachers will undertake two placements during the year. For the majority of the year, student teachers will be in their base placement. The second school placement will be for 6 weeks during the Spring term.

You will be given the opportunity to select the school you would like to have one of two placements in. This means you can pick one of your placement schools and we will pick the other based on your personal and practical circumstances and our large pool of schools across the region. I.e. including and extending the list of schools you see below. Placement capacity in each school is limited to what they are able to offer per subject and will change over the year as recruitment of student teachers develops. 

Please note that we will support you in picking your preferred placement school upon successfully passing the interview stage and not in advance of this point.

Our placement schools cover a wide network of schools across York, North and East Yorkshire but you can specifically choose a placement in one of the following schools:

A large, busy and successful Church of England comprehensive school which is situated on the east side of York. The distinctive and effective Christian vision and values permeate every aspect of school life. The most recent Outstanding Ofsted report (2021) found AHS to be “an exceptional place for pupils to learn. The school’s values of justice, compassion, forgiveness and trust are at the heart of every aspect of school life.” Progress and achievement at GCSE and A-Level are routinely in the top 5% (or better) nationally. This sustained trend of success can also be seen with disadvantaged students who in 2022 made twice the level of progress than non-disadvantaged students nationally.

Barlby High School is a small 11-16 secondary school based in Selby. The school aims for children to develop a love for learning, igniting their interests both in and out of school. As such pupils’ learning experience has improved significantly over recent years with growing opportunities for pupils to contribute to the school community. The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities in order to build pupils’ confidence and self-esteem. Barlby High School is part of the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust.

George Pindar School is a small 11-16 comprehensive school which serves the Eastfield area of Scarborough and has a higher than average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals. Known locally as ‘Pindar’, their motto is ‘Proud to be Pindar’. The school commits to ensuring that students are well prepared for adult life and are able to make a positive and sustained contribution to the area in which they live.  George Pindar School is part of the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust.

Graham school is an 11-16 Secondary School in the centre of Scarborough. The school is proud of the improvements it has made over recent years including school building updates, new staff and a growing number of students on roll. The school hopes for its community to ‘Grow, Learn and Achieve together’ and summarises this in the tagline ‘Grow at Graham’. The school has a strong pastoral support team and a learning support area for pupils who benefit from 1:1 support. Graham School is part of the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust.

Huntington School is an 11-18 comprehensive school of around 1500 students situated to the north of York. The school values are ‘Respect, Honesty and Kindness’ and staff support pupils to gain experience and develop in many ways including clubs, activities, sports events and performances. Huntington school is a local authority maintained school and was judged to be ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2023. Huntington is also home to ‘Huntington Research School’ who work with other schools in the area to help them to use evidence more effectively to inform their teaching. 

The Joseph Rowntree School is an 11-18 comprehensive school situated in the north of York with over 1300 students and includes a small enhanced resource provision for pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition. The school was founded by The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (a charity with a vision for a prosperous and poverty-free UK) in 1942 and as such centres it’s vision and values on the importance of education that aims to reduce poverty, transform lives and enhance life chances for all students. 

Malton School is a comprehensive school situated in an excellent edge of town location, with a rural feel, and pleasant spacious surroundings. The sense of community within the school is tangible and there is a strong sense of belonging. The school vision and values focus on tolerance and respect, politeness, good manners, a smart appearance, an industrious work ethic and a generosity of spirit. The broad curriculum offers a range of subjects at GCSE and A Level, with particular strengths reflecting it’s Specialist Science School status.

Manor CE School is an 11-16 secondary school with around 1100 students located on the west side of York. Manor has a proud history having served the young people of York since 1812 and has a reputation for strong academic performance. As a Church of England academy, Christian values guide and influence the school – “growing together, serving others and living life to the full”. Manor CE Academy is part of the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust.

Vale of York academy is a small 11-16 school in the heart of the city of York with around 600 students and describes itself as a small, caring and close-knit community. The school’s ethos is ‘Always giving the best’ and aims for all students to experience ‘Life in all its fullness’. The school offers an extensive programme of activities including, residential visits, after school clubs and work experience.  Vale of York Academy is part of Hope Sentamu Learning Trust.

Secondary placement locations

The following map indicates the schools we have worked with over the years:

Applying

The latest cycle for ITT places begins on 30th September 2025, when places will be available to view on the Government’s postgraduate teacher training website: https://www.find-postgraduate-teacher-training.service.gov.uk/start/location

You can then start to apply for places on 7th October 2025, when the application process begins and we will be able to accept applications.

Application steps to being onboarded and ready to train to teach

• 1
  Submit your application via DfE Apply.
• 2
  Invited to interview at partnership school.
• 3

  Attend interview – Including an overview of our course and placement schools, and an opportunity to meet key colleagues.

• 4

  Offer made by us.

• 5

  Offer accepted by you.

• 6

  Pre-course placement form completed – this is where you can select 1 of 10 schools that you would like to be placed in for 1 of 2 placements during the course of the programme.

• 7

  Place pending – checking of references, DBS, health, finance etc.

• 8

  Ready to start ITT.

Secondary Subjects Offered

All our courses are accredited by York St John University. Applications are now closed for training starting in September 2026.