Congratulations on being offered a place on the York St John Partnership Secondary PGCE programme.
Key Programme Dates
First Day – Thursday 3rd September, 2026 @ 10am – (Come to our Holgate Dining Room Extension at 9am with photo ID to pick up your Student ID Card)
Induction Day – Saturday 20th June, 2026 @ 9am
The following information has been provided to ensure you are ready to begin your career in teaching and prepare you for the professional and academic expectations of your PGCE. Please do make sure you check this blog regularly and work through all of the information and tasks provided for you as this will ensure you are able to make a positive start to your training programme.
As you prepare to start your PGCE, please do make sure that you have met all of the conditions attached to your offer by the stipulated deadline.
This will include:
- DBS documentation
- GCSE confirmation or equivalency tests
- Degree confirmation
During the Induction Day event on Saturday 20th June there will be time for your ID checks to be done.
If you are unable to attend the Induction day other dates to bring in your ID are available:
| Date | Room | Time |
| Thurs 14th May | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 27th May | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 10th June | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 24th June | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 8th July | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 22th July | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 5th Aug | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 19th Aug | DG/014 | 1.00-3.00 |
| Wed 2nd Sept | TBC | 1.00-3.00 |
If you have any questions relation to your conditions, please do contact our admissions department at pgce@yorksj.ac.uk
York St John Student Charter
York St John University is a vibrant learning community of students and staff. We work together to create an environment in which we can all fulfil our academic and personal potential. We all have rights and responsibilities and we will all benefit if we actively respect and protect the rights of others. Please access the Charter below and explore the links to other useful information. This will help you to make the most of your time at York St John University.
Programme Handbooks and Useful Information
Please see below links to useful documents about the programme, including handbooks, and information about your School Experiences and ITAPs
Subject Specific Handbooks
Calendar
The following calendar (draft only) show the days when your university training will take place. Please note that these are just your YSJ training days and not those provided by your alliance. Your alliances will run their own enrichment programme usually on a Wednesday morning before the University session in the afternoon. University sessions will begin at 1pm and finish at 4.30pm.
Induction tasks to complete
Between now and the start of the course on Thursday 3rd September you have 8 tasks to complete. More information about these tasks will be shared on the Induction Day in June, and further tasks will be added at a later day. The information below will take you through the tasks that are already available. Here is a summary of the tasks you will need to complete –
Professional Competency Test – complete the online literacy and numeracy test
Curriculum Vitae – complete following the template
Subject Knowledge Audit – complete prior to the course for your subject area
Subject Knowledge Enhancement – complete Module 1 -Punctuation and Grammar SKE
Subject Knowledge Enhancement – complete Module 2 – Artificial Intelligence SKE
Professionalism – save a copy of the Powerpoint and make notes/reflections
Academic Reading Task – Complete this before commencing with the written task underneath
Academic Written Task – Complete the reading task before starting the writing task.
Remember to save your work for the tasks in your own area/laptop ready to be uploaded during your first week. All tasks need to be complete by Friday 11th September.
Induction Day – Saturday 20th June
You are invited to attend our PGCE secondary Induction Day event on Saturday 20th June 9-2pm on campus where you will have the opportunity to meet others on the course and attend a number of supportive workshops to help you prepare for the year ahead. Presentations used on the day will appear here to following week. Please ensure you are able to attend this event.
Bursary Information
If you are planning to apply for a Bursary for 2026-27 more information will be released at the Induction Day and a form will be given to you.
The Bursary is available for the following subjects:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Computing
- Design and Technology
- Geography
- Languages
- Mathematics
- Physics
Professional competency Audit
The professional competency audit has been devised to allow you to demonstrate the required knowledge and skills in essential literacy and numeracy that have been identified by the DfE. All teachers are required to be effective communicators and to be able to interpret data and, therefore, you need to demonstrate a minimum level to be awarded Qualified Teacher Status.
To help you demonstrate competency in these essential areas, you should take the following audit which can be accessed via the link below, Please note that for this audit, there is a minimum pass mark that must be met to show competency. That pass mark is 70%. If you reach the required pass mark, you will not need to take the audit again. If you do not reach a pass mark of 70%, please do not worry as there will be further opportunities throughout your programme to re-sit this. Do not resit the same test, you will be sent an alternative test in September. There is no need to record this score anywhere as we will track who has passed and who needs to re-sit at a later date. However, do remember to include your full name when completing the audit. The deadline for completion of this audit is 4th September 2026.
The link for the professional competency test is here
Curriculum Vitae task
We would like you to share an up-to-date CV with us. This will be uploaded onto PebblePad in due course so that school mentors, link tutors, subject tutors and academic tutors can all access it.
Please access the following template suggestion. If you use your own format, please ensure you have covered the same information as that included in this document.
(You can only upload this task between Monday 7th-Friday 11th September, 2026)
Subject Knowledge Audits
The following subject knowledge audits have been written to ensure you are aware of the level of subject knowledge required to be a secondary school specialist in your subject. The audits are a formative tool and enable you to reflect and identify areas of personal need. The audits cover key aspects of your subject curriculum content and to ensure you are prepared to teach these, revision in weaker areas will be needed through out the course.
Please access the audits via the links contained below. Once completed, please save your audit and have this ready to e mail to your subject tutor in early September (details will be shared in September). Please note that these audits will be repeated in December, February and June to demonstrate progress. You should be prepared to share your subject knowledge audit with your mentor in September as areas of development will inform your early targets. Completed subject knowledge trackers will also be uploaded electronically onto your Pebblepad workspace so that subject tutors, mentors and Lead Partners can have access, this will be done at a later date.
Subject Knowledge Enhancement
You will need to complete both module 1 (Punctuation and Grammar) and module 2 (Artificial Intelligence) of the subject knowledge enhancement course. Each module follows the same structure:
- You will be asked to rate your confidence against module-specific statements
- You will undertake a prior knowledge activity
- You will be signposted learning activities to complete in order to improve and develop your knowledge
- You will complete a developed learning activity via which you can self-assess your progress
- You will re-rate your confidence against module-specific statements
- You will be given next steps to complete to ensure the course content is connected with your development as a student teacher
Please note that the learning activities are recommended reading and links that will help you to develop your subject knowledge. Your movement through the module will very much depend on your confidence and prior subject knowledge. A range of learning activities are provided which means that you can decide which to access at what point, given your areas for priority. Both modules must be completed by Friday 5th September. Please download and save the document into your own area to work through.
Professional Expectations
Professionalism is a fundamental aspect of the role of all teachers. Each and every one of us must uphold the highest standards and demonstrate the core values of acceptance, respect and kindness at all times.
Part Two of the Teachers’ Standards outlines expectations, and you will be assessed against these expectations throughout your programme. These professional expectations focus on how you communicate with other, present yourself in a professional capacity and how you adhere to school values and policy.
The transition to a professional programme can be a challenge for some student teachers, but to support you, the following PowerPoint outlines expectations as well as giving you a range of case studies for you to consider. Please access the PowerPoint from the link below and make notes/reflections on the scenarios given to you. Further reading is also offered for those who wish to read more around the focus of professionalism. Please download the PowerPoint and save this electronically as access is time sensitive is set to expire on Wednesday 8th July 2026
Professionalism Powerpoint 26-27
Critical Reading and Thinking
This Powerpoint is designed to support your understanding of criticality. Please work through the activities outlined. This workshop will be followed by a critical writing Powerpoint and your formative writing activity which should be completed over the summer holiday.
Critical Reading and Thinking Powerpoint
Critical Writing Powerpoint and Task
This Powerpoint has been designed to support your critical writing skills. Criticality is an essential component of M Level study and this workshop will highlight the academic expectations of your PGCE as well as support your understanding of how to plan and compose a piece of critical writing.
Please ensure you have completed the critical thinking and reading workshop before engaging with this workshop as this will support your understanding.
The written outcome from this workshop will be submitted early in the programme. Please ensure you have completed the written task before 3rd September. You will receive feedback from your writing from your tutors whiuch will support your first submission proper in January 2027.
Please ensure you take this opportunity to receive formative feedback on your academic writing as this will help ensure you are successful with your module assessment.
Disability Support and Inclusion
Our Disability Support and Inclusion Team can work with you to make adaptions to your programme to support any specific learning needs you may have. You are entitled to use these services if you have a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difficulty for which you can provide evidence.
This May include:
- Autism
- Depression and anxiety
- Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and AD(H)D
- Eating Disorders
- Epilepsy, diabetes and IBS
You should make an appointment as soon as possible to discuss what support would be helpful to you, which will be used to create a document known as a Learner Adjustment Plan (LAP). This document will be seen by your tutors, the School Admin Unit and you should share this plan with your placement school. Please not that any LAP will not automatically translate to postgraduate study. Therefore, if you have an existing LAP, a new plan will be needed to ensure you are supported at university and in school.
Once an LAP is in place adaptions can be made to academic deadlines as well as giving you access to resources that match your needs. Please note that adaptions cannot be made without an LAP being in place.
If you intend to apply for an LAP, please start the process before you begin the programme. You can find more information and book an appointment by visiting the webpage below.
https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/health-and-wellbeing/disability-support/
Code of Conduct
Please take the time to read through our code of conduct prior to starting the course next week.
First Day on programme
*******Thursday 3rd September, 2026********
Time: 10am sessions start
Room: TW/007 – Temple Wing Lecture Theatre
Once you have collected your student ID card from our Dining Room Extension your first session will take place in our Temple Wing Lecture Theatre at 10am.