PGCE (Secondary) Music with Specialist Instrument Teaching (with QTS)
The RNCM runs the unique Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course in collaboration with the Faculty of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester Met).
It’s designed for graduates of universities and conservatoires who wish to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) while specialising in instrumental teaching. This includes teaching wind, brass, strings, percussion, voice, piano/keyboard, guitar, bass guitar, and drums.
Open to instrumentalists and vocalists across all genres (including classical, jazz, folk, and popular music), the course combines secondary classroom training with specialist tuition in instrumental pedagogy. You’ll learn to teach your primary instrument, related instruments, or voice in a range of settings using innovative, practical methodologies such as Kodály and Dalcroze.
Key Information
- Duration
- 1 year full-time
- Credits
- 180
- Course Code
- WX3C
- Fees
- Fee guide
Entry Requirements
Open for applications through the year, this one-year full-time course offers instrumentalists and vocalists a range of distinctive features. If you want to learn how to teach music in a secondary school context and how to teach your own instrument and related family instruments or voice in a variety of different settings through innovative methodologies, then this is the course for you.
We are looking for outstanding musicians from all disciplines – including popular music, jazz, and folk – who show a real passion for music education in all its guises and who strive to develop outstanding musicianship in their teaching practice.
Programme Structure
All trainees complete two teaching placements at secondary schools and music services across the North West, and benefit from exceptional opportunities at both the RNCM and Man Met throughout the year.
At the RNCM
At the RNCM you’ll have the opportunity to develop your teaching and performance skills via integrated approaches to instrumental and vocal teaching. This includes focusing on embodied methodologies such as Dalcroze and Kodály. Instrumental pedagogy includes an introduction to related instruments within instrumental families while developing strategies for teaching individual, small group, and whole class lessons. There is also a focus on developing your creative musicianship through classes on improvisation, aural and vocal approaches, ensemble leading/conducting, world music, and educational research.
Experience in both classroom and instrumental teaching settings will equip you with the necessary skills to support the varied portfolio careers that young professional musicians and teachers undertake. You will focus on secondary music teaching at Key Stage 3 and 4 but may gain additional experiences of other educational settings including primary, sixth form, and special education needs. You will also have the opportunity to observe and participate in performance workshops, academic classes, and research seminars.
These experiences are enabled through the outstanding professional collaboration that the RNCM has with its various school and Music Hub partners throughout the North West.
At Manchester Metropolitan University
At Manchester Met, the Faculty of Education is a major provider of initial teacher education and continuing professional development for teachers at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the North West, and one of the largest teacher training establishments in the country. Much of its work is recognised as being at the forefront of developments in the sector, with its PGCE training receiving outstanding reports from its external examiners.
During this programme, subject mentors provide full training on how to teach music within Key Stages 3-4 (ages 11-16) with extension to post-16 A-level work. You’ll study the National Curriculum in depth and explore issues such as how children acquire musical knowledge and understanding, classroom organisation, teaching mixed ability groups, equality of opportunity in schools, and communication skills.
Apply via Manchester Metropolitan University
Applications are accepted throughout the year
Alumni Spotlight
Emily Blackford | PGCE
‘I have always wanted to be a music teacher, but having had little experience of teaching prior to my PGCE, I was unsure whether I wanted to go into classroom teaching, or whether I would prefer instrumental teaching. This course seemed perfect, as it allowed me to have the experience of teaching music in a range of different educational settings, allowing me to work out exactly the type of teacher I wanted to be.’