PGCE FAQs

You may be eligible for the PGCE bursary depending on the PGCE programme you're applying for. The amount awarded varies by subject. For example, if you’ve applied for Physics, you could receive up to £29,000, while for English the bursary is £5,000. Further information can be viewed on GOV.UK or on the Get Into Teaching website. 

You won’t be eligible for a bursary until you’re officially enrolled on your PGCE programme. You must also complete the 'Declaration of Understanding' on your eVision task.

If eligible, you'll automatically receive the bursary at the end of October / November. The bursary is paid in 10 instalments and you can use it towards accommodation, books, food and general costs.

If you're an international student, you can also opt to use the bursary to pay towards your final 50% fee instalment. Due to the timings of the bursary payments, you'll need to pay your deposit before your CAS is issued aswell as the first 50% payment, before you can be enrolled.

Important information for PGCE Secondary Education (Science)
These courses are in high demand and have limited places, so a deposit deadline applies. To secure your place, you’ll need to pay your deposit by 20 March 2026. After that, make sure you log into your DfE account to accept your offer and confirm your place. As this is a popular PGCE stream - courses may close early should it become full subscribed. Due to this, we would highly recommend applying early in the cycle. 

For any questions about the PGCE bursary, please email hsp-finance@brunel.ac.uk

Once you’ve submitted your application through DfE and it’s received by our system, we’ll review it against the entry criteria. Sometimes we may need futher information to make a decision, so you might be contacted to provide this.

If we have everything we need, we'll either:

• reject your application if the entry criteria aren’t met, or
• refer your application to the department to decide whether an interview can be offered.

If you’re invited to interview, we’ll send you an email with instructions to book your slot.

If you’re selected for an interview for PGCE Secondary Education (English, Maths, Physical Education, Sciences) or PGCE Primary Education, you’ll be asked to book your interview through your Applicant Portal. You’ll need to choose from the available dates and times. We have enough capacity for everyone invited, but slots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so we recommend booking early for the best choice.

Before booking your interview slot, you may need to complete some tasks. If you see any of the following buttons in your Applicant Portal, you must complete them first:

• Criminal Conviction Disclaimer
• Childcare Disqualification
• Declaration of Understanding

If none of these appear, you can go ahead and book your interview date.

Once you’ve booked, look out for an email with details about what the interview involves, including any preparation or documents you’ll need to bring.

PGCE Secondary Education (English, Mathematics, Sciences)
Your online interview will include:

• A group discussion task
• A 5-minute presentation where you talk through a 30-minute lesson you’ve planned in advance. Your lesson should be for a KS3 group in an area of your choice, within your subject area. You’ll discuss the lesson with the interviewers and there'll be questions afterwards. (You can share your screen if you wish.)
• Interview questions

PGCE Secondary Education (Physical Education)
We'll send you a Teams link for your online interview. If the date and time offered isn’t convenient, you'll have the chance to arrange an alternative.

You'll also receive details about any pre-interview activities, preparation, and documents you'll need. The interview usually includes:

• A presentation
• A literature reflection
• Interview questions

PGCE Primary Education
Your online interview will include:

• A group discussion task
• A 5-minute presentation where you talk through a 30-minute lesson you’ve planned in advance. Detailed information about the lesson to plan is provided in the interview invitation letter. You’ll discuss the lesson with the interviewers and there'll be questions afterwards. (You can share your screen if you wish.)
• Interview questions

You should expect to hear the outcome via the DfE Apply within 10 days. If you haven't heard after this time, please contact admissions on admissions@brunel.ac.uk, call +44 (0)1895 265265, or speak to us via Live Chat on our website.

UK universities use the UK ENIC database to check how overseas qualifications compare to UK standards. If you're unsure whether your qualifications meet the entry requirements of the course, please check the UK ENIC guidance. They also offer “Statements of Comparability” which you can submit to universities or employers as proof of the comparability of your qualifications.

Please note: it's not a mandatory requirement for Brunel University of London to submit a “Statement of Comparability” for our courses. However, we do need to see evidence of your qualifications, including the certificates and transcripts.

GCSE equivalency tests are offered to international students who don't hold the required GCSE grades. If your existing qualifications don’t meet our GCSE requirements, you can take an equivalency test instead.

Similarly, if you’re a non‑UK citizen who recently moved to the UK and took GCSEs after arriving but didn’t achieve the required grades, you may also be able to take a GCSE equivalency test.

Please note that GCSE equivalency tests do not meet our English Language requirements. You’ll still need to meet the IELTS 7.0 (minimum 6.0 in each component) requirement.

Unfortunately, Home students aren't able to use GCSE equivalency tests. If you studied GCSEs in the UK and did not achieve the required grade, you'll need to resit the GCSE exam. Because GCSE resits and results are unlikely to be completed before the course start date, you may need to reapply for the next academic year.

There are several organisations that offer GCSE equivalency tests. You may find the following providers helpful:

• MME Revise
• Equivalency Testing
• A Star Equivalency

A Subject Knowledge Enhancement or SKE course helps you strengthen your subject knowledge before starting your PGCE. You may be required to take an SKE course if your degree isn’t closely related to the subject you want to teach. For example, if you’d like to train as a PGCE Secondary Biology teacher but your degree isn’t in Biology, an SKE course may be added as a condition of your offer.

SKE courses vary in length and can be:

• Short: 8–15 weeks
• Medium: 16–23 weeks
• Long: 24–28 weeks

If you need an SKE, this will be clearly stated in your offer conditions.

Funding for SKE courses is different depending on your fee paying status:

• Home students: Funding is provided by the Department for Education (DfE).
• International students: You’ll normally need to self‑fund, except for Physics, where funding may be available.

You can find more information in the DfE's guidance on the GOV.UK webpages. For questions about funding eligibility, you can also contact ske.inbox@education.gov.uk.

Having an SKE condition won’t prevent you from registering for your PGCE in the same academic year, however, due to national funding rules relating to the SKE bursary and PGCE bursary, your SKE must be fully completed before you begin your PGCE programme. To ensure there is no overlap between these bursaries, you must enrol onto your SKE course no later than these dates:

• Long: 2nd February 2026
• Medium: 23rd March 2026
• Short: 25th May 2026

You'll need to provide evidence from your SKE provider confirming that you’ve enrolled and are actively engaging with the course by the dates above, otherwise your application may be withdrawn. 

There are many approved SKE providers. You can explore them on the Get Into Teaching website.

If your SKE provider requires confirmation from Brunel that you hold an offer on the course, please provide admissions@brunel.ac.uk as the contact address as part of your SKE application, so they can recevie these requests. 

Once you've received an offer, you'll be able to log in to your eVision portal to view your offer letter and offer conditions. You'll also be able to see your offer conditions in your DfE portal.

If you have a question about whether a document you've uploaded meets your offer conditions, our Admissions team can help. You can contact them at admissions@brunel.ac.uk, call +44 (0)1895 265265, or speak to us via Live Chat on our website.

Due to the nature of the PGCE and the associated DfE application process, we're not able to defer applications to the next academic year. Instead, you'll need to reapply when the new DfE application cycle opens. 

If you do decide not to take up the offer, please email admissions@brunel.ac.uk to let us know. We'll make a note of your request so the department is aware.

When your new application is submitted, we'll review your application and, provided the programme is still running with places available, you had a successful interview outcome, your documents are still valid and you continue to meet the offer conditions, seek to make you an offer. In most cases, you won’t need to re-sit your interview, but we'll confirm this with you once we receive your request.

If you’d like to change to a different PGCE stream, you'll need to withdraw your current application on the DfE portal and submit a new application for the stream you want to study.

Unfortunately, we’re not able to change your course internally, so the DfE application route is the only way to switch your course.