Thread: Want to advise on PGCE personal statement?

Quick update, which I woulda avoided if I wasn't offered a position

After finishing up with Uni I had some issues with the lack of GCSEs. Some institutes will offer equivalency tests, where as some wont. In Wales there are only three secondary IT course providers, of which I believe only one or two offer equiv tests.

Due to location I firstly applied for a secondary design & technology course and was unsuccessful. I think this was due to my degree not being directly related to the subject.

A graduate friend got interested i n the PGCE and was wanting to move out to Bath, so we both applied at Bath spa uni. There was a damn load of applicants there and again the interview resulted unsuccessful.

Two unsuccessful interviews knocked away some confidence of actually gaining a placement this year. However, around the end of May/beginning of June I thought I would send off 1 more application. Had an interview to be told there were only a few placements left and a load more to interview, so again I wasn't too confident about getting on. But heyhey I got a letter today and I made it . The institute has got to be close to, if not more than, 80 miles away though, so I got some issues here. And the nearest school placements they can provide are about 40 miles away. + being a student i'm kinda brassick right now! I'm not sure how all this will work out, but just happy to get on.

Thanks again for all your help with my application

^ Well done, you idle bugger
You may find that the institute may (eventually) reimburse you for some of the travel cost to the school placements, but inevitably you'll end up absorbing most of the cost. Just one of those things.
Nice work, persistence does pay off! Keep us posted how you get on.
Oh, and get some sleep in now. You'll need it once the course starts....

It is a bit far & i'm really not sure what I will do. Home to campus on train will take about 2 hours. The costs would be like 25/30 quid a day too. Not sure if I could do that & really don't fancy getting up at 6am and being home gone 6. That would be a killer. I think the only options are to either stay at campus accomodation or find some temp digs, which right now I can't afford...may be able to borrow some money for that...atleast I hope. Seems like a large portion of my grant will go on accomodation Oh well it's only for what 10 months

but what a long ten months!!! haha. this year for the ICT pgce i was given a maintance grant, a student loan and a bursary. reading the bbc today the grant and loan are not going up and i guess they bursary won't but 9k tax free is liveable.

because i travelled so far everyday i had a saturday job that virtually paid for my petrol which was nice. Towards the middle of the second placement my uni tutor also managed to secure me some money for my petrol so this went towards a visa for the missus.

There are loads of different fundings that the uni will have to help out and along with loans and bursarys you should be ok.

can you drive? although it will cost you to buy and insure a car some days you will be expected to stay at school late, some you will stay late as something crops up and others you will be out of the door on time. because i was driving almost 100 miles per day i just picked up a cheap one off ebay that had 9 months mot so i didn't have to fork out much money whilst on my course. Mot due in august whilst i am in thailand and if it costs too much i have done 13000 miles in it so no worries to scrap!

Originally Posted by process

Coming back from teaching abroad, in my opinion, was a wise but unwanted choice.

They'll read this and see a guy who wants to use UK gov't funding before fleeing again.

Originally Posted by process

Teaching is my destined path

Hopefully they'll be puffing on weed when they read this.

Originally Posted by process

whether it is certified ICT teaching or TEFL teaching, is irrelevant. .

Crap English.

Originally Posted by process

It is going to happen and I know that the next best step to take is that, which the PGCE offers. This is why I want to be a teacher.

Even more crap English, and if "it is going to happen" regardless, you won't be needing their help.



In sum, you come across as a begging chancer.

Yeah picking up a cheap motor is a viable option. Would still have to be getting up at stupid o'clock though.

Those statements are extracts from a first draft. All the areas you picked up on were already edited.

Originally Posted by process

It is a bit far & i'm really not sure what I will do. Home to campus on train will take about 2 hours. The costs would be like 25/30 quid a day too. Not sure if I could do that & really don't fancy getting up at 6am and being home gone 6. That would be a killer.

Try to find somewhere a bit closer to live if you can. It's quite common for PGCE students (particularly Secondary PGCE students) to have to travel some distance to placement schools and even to uni seminars/classes these days. Campuses are more spread out than they used to be and catchment areas (for placement schools) can be pretty large. My PGCE was in Canterbury which effectively covered all of Kent and extended into South East London. I lived in Canterbury (foolishly thinking that this would mean my travel would be thereby minimised) but then had to travel 35 miles each way every day to both of my placement schools and sometimes 40 miles to attend seminars with my tutor despite the fact that she operated out of Canterbury. Easier for Primary PGCE students as there are so many primary schools they could be sent to.
Occasionally we would share lifts in a car with other students going the same way - possibly an idea for you, process, once you get to know people.

Yeah thanks Cawphad. I just read your blog.


The nearest school placements that the university has contact with are still around 40 miles away. That isn't too far, but that drive is into the city. They operate on some kind of jurisdiction with other universities I think. Probably with traffic it will be an hour drive. Being placed in a school that is an hours drive away is no problem. Travelling to Uni for those 30/40 days, which is around a 2 hour train drive away, will be a problem. Still not sure what I'm going to do! I'll have a chat with the tutor on enrollment day & see if he can give some info on where the school placements will be. I'll then weigh up the time & costs of comuting & or moving (hopefully it won't be too late by then)

Originally Posted by process

Travelling to Uni for those 30/40 days, which is around a 2 hour train drive away, will be a problem. Still not sure what I'm going to do!

I have a two hour train journey to work everyday. It's not that bad and given the amount of studying you'll have to do it should give you time to get some of it out of the way. Ipod, coffee and a good book and the time flies .

Usually, it works out a lot cheaper if you buy a weekly season ticket rather than a daily one. For example, i travel from Stockport to Milton Keynes - a daily standard return is £162 whereas the weekly ticket is only £166.

Good luck with the course......