Prospective teachers can apply for place on new course in city at ARU Peterborough

Prospective primary school teachers can now apply for a place at the country’s newest university provider of Initial Teacher Training, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).

The undergraduate Primary Education with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) course at ARU will be the UK’s first new Batchelor of Education (BEd) degree for 30 years.

Around 200 people are believed to leave the region every year to seek undergraduate teacher training opportunities at universities elsewhere in the country. It is hoped that a new, innovative course delivered by ARU will increase the number of teachers who train locally and stay in the region’s schools after they graduate.

The BEd Primary Education with QTS course at ARU will combine three years of academic study with three high-quality assessed placements with primary schools across the East of England and London. The course, designed and taught by primary teachers who took the QTS route into teaching, will be regulated by Ofsted.

There are 20 places available at ARU Peterborough for the September 2024 intake.

ARU is the only new accredited university provider of ITT in the UK, and in the Guardian League Table 2024, was ranked seventh in the country for its Education courses.

Jenny Fogarty, Director of Initial Teacher Training at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming our first cohort onto the BEd Primary Education with QTS course in September 2024. This is an innovative course, designed and taught by teachers and incorporating high-quality placements.

“ARU already has a proven track record of providing the region with the key workers that it needs, whether that be early years practitioners, doctors, nurses, paramedics or police officers. Providing the teachers of the future with an opportunity to qualify here in the East of England will ensure more people stay here to work when they graduate, making a positive difference to their communities and the children and families they work with.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the BEd Primary Education with QTS course can attend one of ARU’s forthcoming undergraduate open days in Cambridge, Chelmsford or Peterborough on 25 November.