Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) Conversion Course – Secondary

The QTS Conversion Course is available to teachers who are currently employed in maintained or independent schools in England, who have already completed The University of Buckingham’s Independent PGCE within the past two years. This course is the accreditation that enables teachers to teach in state-maintained and special schools in England.

The Secondary QTS Conversion Course is a 37-week school-based course that is completed across the school year. During which time you will work under the guidance of a school mentor and receive fortnightly tutorials to review your progress and to set targets. Trainees on the QTS conversion complete 15 Professional Learning Activities over the duration of the programme, meet with their mentor 15 times and have 15 lesson observations. You will also be assigned a University tutor who will visit twice during the course of the year to assess your progress against the Teaching Standards and Core Content Framework and guide your development.

You are expected to undertake a teaching placement in a second school which must be a contrasting school environment. The duration of this teaching placement is determined upon application but is likely to be for three weeks.

“Leaders have developed an ambitious, coherent and challenging ITE curriculum. Based around five curriculum themes, the well-structured course is informed by the core content framework and underpinned by a wealth of pertinent academic research. Together, heads of cohort, subject leads and mentors ensure that trainees foster a deep subject knowledge and rich range of pedagogical skills. Trainees typically become very well-informed and highly reflective practitioners.” Ofsted, 2021

How many subjects can I train to teach?

You will always nominate one main subject but you can certainly train to teach two subjects. For example, your main subject may be PE but you can also learn about teaching mathematics.