While it is not necessary to do so, students may register with the Teaching Council during their PME, through Route 3 - Further Education and once they successfully complete the programme, they may update their status to Route 2 - Post-Primary . Further details can be found on the (opens in a new window)Teaching Council’s (opens in a new window)website.
FAQs
To register with the Teaching Council after successfully completing the PME, your undergraduate degree must include the necessary modules for your chosen teaching subject(s). You can review the Teaching Council's curricular subject requirements at (opens in a new window)this link.
As s part of your application to the UCD PME programme, you will need to self-declare your undergraduate modules by mapping them to the Teaching Council's curricular subject requirements on the relevant Subject Declaration Form, available at (opens in a new window)this link. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that you meet these prescribed requirements. Acceptance onto the PME programme is not a confirmation that you meet these prescribed requirements, however, once enrolled on the PME programme, the Teaching Council will ask you to submit your completed Subject Declaration Form(s) to confirm that you meet the undergraduate module requirements for registration in your chosen subject(s). Please note that the Teaching Council may require you to complete additional modules if they identify any gaps in essential areas of your qualifications.
The entry requirements are two fold.
- You need to have fully completed an undergraduate degree that is the equivalent to a Level 8 undergraduate degree in Ireland in at least one of the subjects that you wish to be qualified to teach. You must have achieved the minimum of a H2.2 (Second Class Honours) overall in this degree.
- You must meet the Teaching Council’s (opens in a new window)curricular subject requirements for at least one post-primary curricular subject. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure upon application that they meet all of the Teaching Council requirements for curriculum subjects see previous FAQ.
Fees information can be found at www.ucd.ie/fees.
Students on a multi-year programme should note that their fees are subject to change from year to year. The fees for other EU programmes (e.g. postgraduate taught) have seen increases of approximately 4% year on year.
UCD offers the following post-primary curricular subject methodologies:
Accounting, Agricultural Science, Applied Mathematics, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Classical Studies, Computer Science, Economics, English, French, Gaeilge / Irish, Geography, German, History, Italian, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Physics and Chemistry, Politics & Society and Spanish.
Note: while other subject methods may appear on our list of modules, they are only available based on minimum numbers as determined by the Head of School.
Yes. You may apply to UCD for the PME programme with one subject and on successful completion of the PME register as a teacher with the Teaching Council with one teaching subject. However, for the purposes of meeting the PME criteria of 120 credits you will have to register for two subject methods modules in each year of the programme. Students who have one teaching subject can discuss options for their second methods module with the PME programme director as required.
PME year 1 students are in their respective schools for placement Monday morning, Tuesday all day, Wednesday morning and Friday all day. In PME year 1, students attend classes in UCD on Monday afternoons and Thursday all day, as well as some other evenings depending on their methodology subjects.
Students in PME year 2 are in their school placement all day on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and in the morning on Wednesdays. PME students in year 2 attend classes in UCD all day on Tuesdays, and again depending on their subjects may have classes on other days in the evening. In the Spring trimester of PME year 2, students are on block placement and do not have any classes in UCD.
Students are required to complete a minimum of 4.5 teaching hours per week, with a maximum of 8 hours, during their school placement. This should be, where possible, equally split across both of their subjects. However, there must be at least one class per week in the student’s second subject.
Further details about the current course load and modules can be found (opens in a new window)here.
If the Teaching Council has noted that you are missing credits for their registration processes, you may take additional modules for credit during the PME. Please note that we do not recommend a student take more than 5 extra credits per trimester due to workload.
Depending on the subject of the credits you are missing, you should contact the relevant school directly for information about their module offerings. All contact details for individual schools can be found on the UCD website.
Yes. Undergraduates are to upload a set of transcripts showing all marks to date, even if this is only 2 years of their 3 year degree. The application will be based on the relevant completed degree years. Final year marks will be uploaded at a later date if you have been successful in being offered a place.
It is important to note that if you are applying on the basis of an incomplete degree, any offer to the PME will be provisional. If you do not meet the criteria for the PME before it commences, your offer will be revoked.
Please note that it is the student's responsibility to secure placement, and while the placement can be in any school of the student's choosing, it must be no further than 100 km from UCD.
PME students are in schools Monday morning, Tuesday all day, Wednesday morning and Friday all day. Students are required to complete a minimum of 4.5 teaching hours per week, with a maximum of 8 hours, during their school placement. This should be, where possible, equally split across both of their subjects. However, there must be at least one class per week in the student’s second subject.
Students on placement will be assessed by two UCD personnel: a main supervisor and a tutor. The co-operating teacher and Principal will be asked to comment on how the student teacher is doing over the course of the placement, but will not play a role in the evaluation. Students will have a minimum of four visits annually in each year. However, in cases where students are in difficulty or a school feels that a student needs additional support, additional visits will be organised as required.
Students cannot complete their full teaching requirements over one school day. In order to experience the rich variety of activities which take place in schools, students are required to be physically present in schools on a minimum of three days. If they are not timetabled on these days, they are encouraged to make themselves available for class supervision, extra-curricular activities, exam supervision, administrative support etc. as well as undertake lesson planning and preparation.
While the school placement module is aligned with the UCD academic year, a school may require PME students to commence their placement at the end of August, and to be available until the end of the school year.
It is important therefore that you establish the school's expectations prior to accepting your placement.
A Certificate of Attendance verifies years registered at UCD. It states your name, programme title, registration status and stage and is accepted by most third party institutions.
You can access a Certificate of Attendance directly through your SISWeb account. Full details are available here. If you have any trouble accessing this, please contact the UCD Student Desk and they will be happy to help you.
UCD Access and Lifelong Learning offer a Student Assistance Fund for PME students. Information can be found here.
There are also a number of Funding & Scholarship opportunities available through UCD. Further details can be found here.
Information regarding the SUSI Student Grant Scheme can be found here.
The School of Education also has the PATH 1 Teach(er) Me Bursary Fund. As part of this HEA funded project, the School of Education will award 5 current Year 1 students a fee remission of €3,000 each towards a student’s Year 2 fees. The purpose of this scheme is to support students who were not awarded SUSI grants but who have personal financial difficulties which may impact upon their ability to remain on the PME. Further details will be provided to all incoming PME 1 students.
All PME students must undergo Garda Vetting (organised by UCD registry). The UCD Vetting process must be complete before a student can begin their school placement. Even if the placement school organises a separate Garda vetting, all students are still required to complete UCD Garda vetting. If you do not complete the UCD Student Garda Vetting process, you will not be able to attend your placement.
The Student Vetting team will be in touch with all incoming PME students with information about this process.
Further details about this process can be found here. If you have any queries about this process, please contact the UCD Student Vetting team directly at (opens in a new window)studentvetting@ucd.ie.