This course qualifies you to be a secondary teacher of music in England and Wales.

Music is a universal language. By teaching this subject, you will be responsible for unlocking your pupils’ creativity, as well as developing their love of music and their ability to express themselves.

A quality music education will play an important role in young people’s learning, whether they go on to become talented, adept musicians or just gain a deeper understanding of different forms and styles of music.  

You can help your pupils develop not only enduring instrumental and composition skills, but passions and interests that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

There are three elements to secondary training at the University of East London: subject studies, general professional studies and school-based training. It differs from courses offered by other universities in that it is very much subject-based.

We will support you to develop as a great music teacher who can bring the subject to life by devising and delivering a diverse range of engaging lessons that educate and excite all pupils.

The subject studies element of your training programme enables you to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of music in the secondary school context. You will learn how to devise and deliver lessons that creatively tackle the challenges of your subject.  

You will be guided by specialist tutors who have relevant teaching experience and who often contribute to educational research, policy and curriculum developments in your subject.

You will learn about children and child development in the core Active Inquiry and Technology-Enhanced Learning modules with the rest of the Secondary PGCE cohort.

For example, if the topic is behaviour management, your seminar group discussion will look at what managing behaviour means for a music teacher compared with a PE teacher or a Design and Technology teacher.

The university-based training initially consists of weekly lectures on themes that are then developed in seminar groups. You will work both in subject-specific groups and in mixed-subject groups.

We organise our training so that it feels like a school. We teach students mainly in small groups of 30 rather than in large lecture halls of 150 or 300 because it is important that you have plenty of time in your subject groups.

Your subject tutor will be like your form tutor at school. We believe that we should model good practice to you so that you can learn by example.

Our ethos is based on collaboration, not competition. We encourage you to work collaboratively just as you will when you qualify and start working in a school.

You will undertake two long placements in contrasting schools, totalling 24 weeks. We work in partnership with over 100 schools and colleges to provide a high quality programme of support.  

You will be on placement from week three, so right from the beginning of your training you will have a strong link between theory and practice.

While an experienced teacher will be in the classroom with you, it is you who will be planning the lessons and teaching the lessons. You will start by observing the teacher, then helping. By the end of the Secondary PGCE course, you will be teaching 60 per cent of a normal teacher’s timetable.

You will have the opportunity to visit additional schools and settings. For instance, if your first placement is in a mixed comprehensive school in Barking & Dagenham, then you might go to a single-sex faith school in Havering for your second one.

Our tutors and subject mentors will advise and support you throughout each placement as you learn to teach.

Who will teach on this course

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.

The Secondary PGCE course at the University of East London was designed in 2001 in conjunction with the local authorities to address the secondary education teacher shortage in east London.

The partnership works with input and support from the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Redbridge.

It means that our graduates are represented in virtually every secondary school in east London. Some are now deputy heads or in senior management roles in schools that are taking our current trainees for their placements.

Across all subjects, from maths to modern languages, our teacher training graduates are acting as mentors to those following in their footsteps.

The partnership means that you have a head start when it comes to securing a teaching post in east London at the end of your training.

Both local authorities and individual schools visit our campus regularly to meet our trainees and advertise available vacancies.

You may also decide to undertake further study at the University of East London, either at the end of your course or after gaining teaching experience, perhaps specialising in Special Educational Needs or taking our MA Leadership in Education.

We also offer the opportunity for doctoral study to further develop your teaching knowledge and expertise.