Don’t hold back from applying for teacher training because of concerns over subject confidence and knowledge Subject Knowledge Enhancement Courses (SKEs) are opportunities for you to address any gaps that you have in your subject knowledge. These are courses that you complete that teach you the subject content that is needed to be successful when teaching any given subject. These course are designed to up-skill individuals who have a secure foundation of subject knowledge, update subject knowledge that needs refreshing or to look to bridge any gaps to move towards a new area of the curriculum.
What Subject can you complete an SKE in?
Maths, Physics, Languages (MFL), Chemistry, Computing, Biology, Geography, English, Religious Education (RE), Design and Technology (DT) and primary Maths
Who might need to complete an SKE?
– You completed your degree a number of years ago and feel that you have not kept up to date with the current content
– Your degree is relevant, but may not have covered the entire depth and breadth of the subject that you are training to teach
– You have a strong A Level in the subject and want to teach off of this. This means that you will have covered a great deal of the content although may not have explored the required skills to the highest level. You may have some gaps that need addressing.
– You want to teach English and have a degree in English Literature, but have not covered the Language areas of the curriculum.
– You want to teach Computer Science having completed a degree in Business, ICT or IT
– You want to teach Science but your degree is too specialised to cover all of the content within your discipline
– You have relevant professional experience but an unrelated degree
– You want to teach Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) and want to learn a new language (or further develop one you already know)
How does an SKE work?
SKEs are designed to be a flexible tool that allows training providers to find the right individuals who will make great teachers and not let subject knowledge or confidence prevent them from training as a teacher.
SKE courses can run from 8 weeks right up until 28 weeks (36 weeks if you are training in MFL and want to learn 2 languages).
You can complete them face to face, as a distance course or a hybrid version of the 2.
The course is paid for by the DfE and you receive a tax-free bursary. You are paid £175 per week that you complete the course and this means that you receive between £1,600 up to £4,900, depending on the length of the course.
For more information about teacher training bursaries and finance, click here
SKEs are delivered all over the country and can be completed before starting the course or during. We recommend completing the SKE before starting the course as it can be difficult to manage this workload alongside the teacher training course.
You must have an offer from a teacher training provider stating that you need an SKE to be able to access these courses.
The general expectation is that a unit on an SKE will take up to 25 hours, although this is assuming that all of the content is new to you. Many of our trainees tell us that it does not take this long, if you are building on existing subject knowledge.
If the training provider feels you would benefit from completing an SKE then they will discuss this with you. This is likely to be made a condition of you receiving an offer to train with that provider.
If you feel you would benefit from an SKE and this has not been discussed, then ask the question. We are always willing to support our trainees, if it will help them become better teachers.
