PGCE Secondary English with Drama - PGCE

Why study this course?

This English with Drama PGCE course offers an exciting and inclusive programme that will allow you to train to teach with confidence and to thrive in any learning environment. Led by experienced industry professionals who have wide-ranging experience in London secondary schools, it draws upon powerful experiences in both university and school-based training, preparing you to become an effective school practitioner. You will be guided with assurance to use the key methods and approaches of both English and Drama as curriculum subjects across the secondary age range.

Our programme is also designed to give you a rich wider experience, exploring the role of teacher as a creative agent. Our work with local theatre companies will allow you to explore your own creativity, making strong links between your love of drama and English, and the practical skills you will need to teach these subjects in school.

Graduates of the English with Drama PGCE work across a range of schools in London and beyond, many having taken on roles in their placement schools. Our graduates are critically aware and reflective practitioners, confident of their ability to teach with creativity and imagination even in challenging circumstances. London Met teachers are equipped to work in diverse situations with inclusive practices, following our Education for Social Justice model.

Interested in finding out more? Sign up for one of our information events – online or in person – a chance to meet the tutors and get your questions answered. See below.

Read more about this course 

You will undertake practical exploration of the different strands of the Drama and English curriculum areas alongside a broader training, led by specialists, in the fundamental aspects of professional practice. Our course is research-led and focuses on building your skills as a critically reflective practitioner, allowing you to choose your own pathway towards becoming the teacher that you want to be.

Our alumni have considerable choice as to onward career path; by the end of the course you will have gained the skills to become a teacher of Drama, a teacher of English or a teacher of both English and Drama.

Drama is at the centre of a strong arts curriculum, allowing pupils to gain confidence in their personal, social and aesthetic skills. In this course you will learn to challenge their creative thinking through devising, physical theatre and the practical exploration of plays.

In English, you will explore language, literature, expression and the role of communication across Key Stage 3 and 4. You will have the opportunity to develop your English skills across the year with support from key practitioners in school.

The course also enables a complementary approach to your teaching of both English and Drama, allowing for a rich combination of ideas and methods. The two subjects are inextricably linked, but also offer very different approaches to learning. For example, the study of drama writing is an integral part of the English curriculum and the drama curriculum offers opportunities to explore plays in more practical ‘embodied’ ways and to develop links with dance, music, art and across the range of subjects. Practical drama also offers a rich resource for creative, reflective and analytical writing.

Initial Teacher Education at London Met is dedicated to broadening the diversity and inclusivity of our teaching profession, welcoming applicants from all backgrounds, and supporting you to work in often challenging urban schools. We actively work towards a model of Education for Social Justice and explore the key issues facing teachers today.

The course will centre on training you to teach 11 to 16-year-olds and, by arrangement, can also give you additional experience in the post-16 age group. This course qualifies eligible applicants for a bursary of £10,000. (Current bursary for 2024-2025 study).