Student teachers on this programme complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) of 60 credits. The PGCE is awarded alongside a recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
Our vision is to develop highly skilled, motivated and informed teachers, with a passionate commitment to ensuring that all their learners access the high- quality education to which they are entitled. The Curriculum we offer is discussed and co-delivered in Partnership with our schools. It is designed to be purposefully integrated and sequenced across a wide range of settings. It is carefully considered, in order to support our student teachers in gaining expertise in the subject(s) they are learning to teach. We focus on high quality subject teaching to all pupils, adapting learning (where necessary) for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL) whilst maintaining high expectations for all: equality of opportunity is central to our partnership, and we work closely with a diverse range of schools and their communities. The curriculum for all LJMU student teachers includes and extends the entitlement set out in the ITTECF.
Assessment on the Postgraduate Secondary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses is continuous with module and teaching assessments spread over the year at intervals appropriate to the phases of training. All student teachers must pass the 7118SBEC Becoming a Professional Teacher Module and pass Phase 3 at Triangulation, in order to be recommended for QTS.
Formative assessment, by both school-based and university-based staff, is an important element of the Postgraduate Secondary courses. This includes formal lesson observation, analysis and feedback, which support on-going evaluation, review and target setting by the student teacher. The Weekly meeting and Target setting document is completed each week during the placement experience, to capture training and review and set targets. Five Review Forms are completed during placement experiences, by the General Mentor (ITT Mentor) in conjunction with the student teacher and Professional Mentor. The QTS Training and Development File contains a record of the school-based curriculum, along with student-teachers' Placement Experience File(s). Student teachers are NOT required to collate a separate QTS file/portfolio, and are discouraged from doing so, as part of LJMU's commitment to reducing teacher workload.
All LJMU ITE Programmes operate a 'phased' approach to curriculum design and placement experience. The focus of the curriculum and expectations for each phase are as follows:
Phased Expectations: Context and Implementation
At LJMU, we adopt a holistic approach to the monitoring and assessment of trainees whilst on professional practice. This is based on:
- Lesson Analysis Forms
- Weekly Mentor Meetings
- Keeping in Touch Meetings with Lead Mentors and Personal Tutors
- Interim and Final Placement Reviews
- Additional Support Forms (where required)
- Within university taught sessions
- Trainee reflections and evaluations
- Trainee file scrutiny
These phased expectations are used to guide, support and monitor the progression of student teachers through the three phases of the LJMU ITE curriculum. The phased expectations are framed around ten key questions.
- How do I set high expectations and create a safe and inclusive classroom environment that supports all pupils, such as those with SEND?
- How do I show understanding of and apply evidence of how pupils learn effectively, including cognitive load, memory and retrieval practice?
- How do I develop strong subject knowledge and deliver a coherent, sequenced curriculum that builds on pupils' prior knowledge?
- How do I implement evidence-informed approaches to early reading, literacy, and oracy that enables pupils to access all areas of the curriculum?
- How do I plan and teach well-structured lessons that use effective modelling, explanations, and questioning techniques?
- How do I adapt teaching to meet the diverse needs of all pupils without creating unnecessary workload or lowering expectations?
- How do I use assessment effectively to understand pupils' learning, provide quality feedback, and inform my teaching decisions?
- How do I establish and maintain positive behaviours for learning that result in a productive learning environment?
- How do I develop as an evidence-informed reflective practitioner and act on feedback?
- How do I demonstrate the professional knowledge and behaviours of a teacher, collaborating with colleagues, parents and other professionals?
These ten questions form the basis of the LJMU ITE curriculum and have been designed to encompass all aspects of both the Teachers' Standards and ITTECF Framework as a minimum entitlement, and so the focus of attention should be upon these. During each phase of their training, student teachers should be able to articulate their response to each question and their responses should develop as their training progresses.
The phased expectations should be used to support the weekly meetings with mentors, inform student teacher reflections and the interim/final placement reviews. In the interim/final placement reviews, mentors will make judgements against the phased expectations, based on the student teachers' current practice. In doing this, the phased expectations should be holistically used to assess whether the student teacher is on track or not meeting expectations for their current phase. The student is expected to have the majority of the statements highlighted in their current phase to be meeting expectations. Where gaps in knowledge/skills/experience are evident, the phased expectations can help target set to address these.
What happens when a student teacher is not meeting the phased expectations?
If a student teacher is not meeting the expectations for their current phase in the course, an Additional Support Form (ASF) should be completed by the General Mentor and Lead Mentor. In the ASF, SMART targets should be provided to ensure that the student teacher can quickly get back on track.
When are student teachers assessed against the Teachers' Standards?
Assessment against the Teachers' Standards only takes place as a summative assessment at the end of the programme of ITE, through a review of key sources of evidence within the Triangulation. This final judgement as to whether a trainee has met the Teachers' Standards is a holistic one, which takes into account engagement and response to all elements of the programme of ITE i.e., in both university and settings/schools.
- Subject Studies Maps for Mentors
- Professional Studies Week 1
- Professional Studies Week 2
- Professional Studies Week 3
- Professional Studies Week 4
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Art & Design - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Computing - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Design & Technology - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - English - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Geography - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - History - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Mathematics - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Modern Languages - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Music - PG Secondary
- Sept 2026Subject Studies Curriculum Map - Science - PG Secondary
All student teachers have attended the following professional studies sessions between Monday 7th September and Thursday 10th September.
Welcome to the Programme by Dan Dennis
Key messages: student teacher have been told how the programme is built: professional studies lectures, subject studies workshops, four periods of Intensive Training and Practice, and target-setting on placement in two contrasting schools. All of this is mapped to the Phased Expectations and the ten Curriculum Questions, which go beyond the ITTECF minimum. They know that weekly targets from their General Mentor against the Phased Expectations begin in Phase 2, that Part Two of the Teachers' Standards applies at all times and that a placement can be terminated for breach, a safeguarding concern or lack of progress affecting pupils. They have been told to use the full working day, to expect and keep track of a lot of feedback, and to approach disagreements about subject teaching with humility and to bring them to subject studies. The detail of phases, review points and assessment is being sent to them by video this week. Remember to use the Curriculum Questions as the shared language for targets and reinforce the expectation that the school day is used fully for planning and preparation if they are not teaching or observing.
Welcome to the Profession by Michael Sweeney
Key messages: Student teachers have been introduced to the partnership's priority on disadvantage using Liverpool deprivation and attainment data, and to the groups most at risk of underachieving (SEND, low socio-economic status, EAL, social care, young carers). They have been taught to interrogate data rather than accept it. Expect them to ask about your school's context and disadvantage profile early; help them connect what they were shown to the pupils in front of them.
Teacher Professionalism Workshop
Key messages: Student teachers have worked through case studies on professional boundaries - dress and school ethos, relationships with parents, confidentiality, staffroom conduct, social media, and how to handle professional disagreement – and considered each against Part Two of the Teachers' Standards. They have also reflected on what integrity and being self-critical mean for them as a teacher. In your first meeting, it is worth asking what they took from the session and setting out your school's own expectations alongside it, so they hear a consistent message from both sides of the partnership.
Safeguarding 1 by Lynn Sampson-Chappell
Key messages: Student teachers know the definition of safeguarding and how it differs from child protection, the DSL's role, how to receive a disclosure (listen, don't promise confidentiality, record, report), and the boundaries of one-to-one contact, physical contact, social media and mobile phones. They have also completed a level 2 online certificate and the DfE Prevent course. What they need from school is the induction: your child protection and staff behaviour policies, the DSL's name, and your reporting procedure, in the first days of placement.
How Do Pupils Learn 1 by Andy Newland
Key messages: Student teachers have been taught the cognitive science underpinning the curriculum - working and long-term memory, limited capacity, the worked-example effect, intrinsic and extraneous load – and have been taught to engage with it critically, including its limits and the role of emotion and motivation. They may arrive with more questions than certainties, which is intended. Help them see the principles in your practice (small steps, worked examples, retrieval, reducing distraction) and how they play out in your subject specifically.
Assignment Briefing by Heather Hatton
Key messages: Student teachers must choose one subject-specific teaching strategy (guided by their subject lead) and evaluate it critically through research, policy and inclusion, 2,250 words, due 16 November. They will need school context (anonymised) and will end with two SMART targets for a sequence of lessons using the strategy. Their subject lead approves the focus, but you can help by suggesting opportunities to observe and discuss that strategy in your department. Part two of the assignment later in the year requires student teachers to teach using that strategy to different classes.
Professional Resilience 1 by Paul Skinner
Key messages: Student teachers have been asked to see the year as development, to anticipate its pressure points (the run-up to Christmas in particular), to identify their own strengths and sources of support, and to protect time for rest. They know how to reach university wellbeing and crisis services. What they need from mentors is early notice of when placement workload peaks, realistic expectations on planning and marking, and a mentor who asks how they are as well as how the lesson went.
| Role | Name | Telephone/Email |
|---|---|---|
| Head of Secondary ITE | Daniel Dennis (DD) | t. 0151 231 3230 e. D.J.Dennis@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Computing Subject Lead | Lee Rymill (LR) | t. - e. L.Rymill@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Computing Lead Mentor | Yomi Benson (YB) | t. - e. S.O.Benson@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Dance Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Jen Jones (JJ) | t. - e. J.M.Jones@ljmu.ac.uk |
| D&T Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Sarah Finnigan (SF) | t. - e. S.Finnigan@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Drama Subject Lead and Lead Mentor. ITAP 3 Lead | Paul Skinner (PS) | t. - e. P.T.Skinner@ljmu.ac.uk |
| English Subject Lead and Lead Mentor. ITAP 2 Lead | Pete Atherton (PA) | t. - e. P.F.Atherton@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Geography Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Helen Gadsby (HG) | t. - e. H.D.Gadsby@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Geography Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Helen Gadsby (HG) | t. - e. H.D.Gadsby@ljmu.ac.uk |
| History Subject Lead and Lead Mentor. SREF Co-module Lead. ITAP 4 Lead | Heather Hatton (HH) | t. - e. H.K.Hatton@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Mathematics Subject Lead and Lead Mentor. ITAP QA Lead | Mike Sweeney (MS) | t. - e. M.J.Sweeney@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Music Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Delphine Evans (DE) | t. - e. D.M.Evans@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Modern Languages Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Gillian Peiser (GP) | t. - e. G.Peiser@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Physical Education Subject Lead and Lead Mentor. ITAP 1 Lead | Andy Newland (AN) | t. - e. A.T.Newland@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Physical Education Lead Mentor | Ann Divine (AD) | t. - e. M.A.Devine@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Religious Education Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Shereen Shaw (SS) | t. - e. S.H.Shaw@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Chemistry Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Helen Dickson (HD) | t. - e. H.A.Dickson@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Physics Subject Lead and Lead Mentor | Ken Clays (KC) | t. - e. K.Clays@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Biology Subject Lead | Rick Tynan (RT) | t. - e. R.J.Tynan@ljmu.ac.uk |
| Science Lead Mentor | Wendy Haycock (WH) / Menna Goodwin (MG) | t. - e. W.M.Haycock@ljmu.ac.uk / M.C.Goodwin@ljmu.ac.uk |
Phase review forms must be completed by the General Mentor on Abyasa and uploaded by the student teacher to their QTS folder.
| Phase | Completed by Mentor for: |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Thursday 22nd October 2026 |
| Phase 2 Interim | Thursday 17th December 2026 |
| Phase 2 Final | Thursday 11th February 2027 |
| Phase 3 Interim | Thursday 29th April 2027 |
| Phase 3 Final | Thursday 24th June 2027 |
| Assignment | Completed by: |
|---|---|
| Assignment Submission 1 (AS1 Deadline) | 16th November 2026 |
| Assignment Submission 2 (AS2 Deadline) | 1st March 2027 |
For weeks commencing 14th September (for School-Led) and weeks commencing 21st September (for University-Led), student teachers should be focused on observations and induction activities. This means they should not be teaching (including team teaching).
Induction activities, at a minimum, must include:
- Welcome meeting with the professional mentor.
- Welcome meeting with the general mentor.
- School safeguarding induction.
- School health and safety induction.
- School IT systems induction.
- Meeting with SENDCo.
- Meet departmental colleagues.
- Time to familiarise school layout / buildings.
Please refer to the attached Induction Timetable for further information about these activities. Completion of these activities will be confirmed in the Phase 1 Review. Any mentor meetings and target setting during these induction weeks should be informal – there is no requirement to complete a mentor meeting record form, yet.
ITAPs commence for all student teachers on Friday 25th September at LJMU.
Each ITAP will follow the same structure as last year:
- Day 1 in LJMU on Friday to focus on theoretical underpinning.
- Day 2 - 5 in Home School on Monday - Thursday to focus on observation, planning, practice and reflection.
This year, the ITAP focuses are:
- ITAP 1 (starting 25/09/26) — How do I start lessons in a calm and purposeful manner?
- ITAP 2 (starting 02/10/26) — How do I model and explain knowledge, processes and skills in my subject?
- ITAP 3 (starting 09/10/26) — How do I ask and respond to questions in my subject to check understanding?
- ITAP 4 (starting 16/10/26) — How do I deploy a subject-specific pedagogy effectively?
Please refer to the Template ITAP Timetable and the ITAP Booklet which explains what student teachers must do in school during these periods.
ITAP is a compulsory Department for Education compliance activity. This means that during ITAP weeks, student teachers cannot undertake any activity that is not part of the ITAP. Please ensure this is adhered to. For ITAP weeks, the mentor meeting record is a focused discussion on ITAP learning, and the record is included as part of the booklet. No targets should be set during ITAP weeks. Full target setting and mentor meetings begin in Phase 2.
Any questions related to ITAP can be directed to Mike Sweeney (m.j.sweeney@ljmu.ac.uk).