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Too late for a PGCE application?

maomao said:
Good luck to Mr baldrick 🤞

I have an offer from UEL. However I am once again a bit confused.

UCAS says conditional offer. It says conditional on me providing my GCSE and degree certificates. Degree certificate is not a problem. GCSE situation was discussed in detail before submitting my application. It states clearly on my application that I don't have these certificates and the exam boards for all have been given as 'unknown'. All the exam boards have stopped any requests for certificates before 2000. They can't possibly stop me attending because of this at this point right?

I suppose I should phone admissions but I have a cottage pie to make for dinner and I'd rather phone them tomorrow. I should accept the offer though right? It says the way to do this is by withdrawing other applications. I've withdrawn the other UEL related one and can't withdraw the other one as already unsuccesful.

I think it means I'm in though. :D
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Accept the offer, deal with the GCSE certs later, like lots of us have. Equivalency tests are not a big deal and the uni is used to them. You're in.

I'll probably know one of your teachers.

Congratulations, future teacher maomao!
 
scifisam said:
Accept the offer, deal with the GCSE certs later, like lots of us have. Equivalency tests are not a big deal and the uni is used to them. You're in.

I'll probably know one of your teachers.

Congratulations, future teacher maomao!
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Dont worry I accepted it! Will phone admissions in the morning. Thanks for all the support.

Bit dazed tbh.
 
UEL admissions department have told me to do the A* equivalency test ASAP and that I would not be able to attend induction 31st August without them. My mum reckons her old mates (retired teachers) have useful advice but I don't think they do. My brother's friend is looking through old newspaper archives cause he thinks they were printed at the time. I think I should just crack on and do the equivalency.

Given that one of the boards it may be with is currently refusing to look for exams before 2000 surely this is age discrimination of some kind? Any point in pursuing that (it may not be that board though)? None of the boards seem to be able to guarantee turning them up before 31st August.
 
I'm in a slightly similar no-certs-100s-years-ago situation for an NVQ and got English and Maths equivalency 'bundled in'. Managed to squeak through as (due to c19) they took practise papers, rather than me having to sit an exam over Teams :oops:

Just found this though, from 16 July 2020:

GCSE and equivalency tests
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Q. Because of coronavirus, I have been unable to sit my GCSE or equivalency test as scheduled. Will this mean I cannot meet the entry criteria to start a course in September 2020?

A. Providers are permitted to take account of other evidence of attainment. In the first instance, if you think you can provide evidence that you can demonstrate a standard equivalent to GCSE grade 4 in one or more of the required subjects (English, mathematics, and additionally a science subject for primary), you should check your eligibility with your chosen provider. Providers may offer opportunities for you to demonstrate the standard through, for example, equivalency tests.

If you cannot provide the required evidence as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak, providers have temporary flexibility to allow you to start a course. You will need to submit this evidence by 30 November 2020 in order to continue on and complete the course. Candidates should check with their respective providers.
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At the very least you've got until November to get something together? And a degree should demonstrate standard equivalent?


Sorry if this has been done to death already! Congrats on getting this far 😎
 
5t3IIa said:
At the very least you've got until November to get something together?
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Which was what I thought before but the teenager on the UEL admissions line just told me no exam certificates by August 31st no induction. And he put me on hold to talk to an adult at one point.
 
maomao said:
Which was what I thought before but the teenager on the UEL admissions line just told me no exam certificates by August 31st no induction. And he put me on hold to talk to an adult at one point.
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I hesitate to throw out advice as you clearly have this 99% in hand but my sense would be to quote .gov websites back at them :D
 
It seems a somewhat absurd situation, especially given most prospective teachers hold a UK degree. But yeah, beyond maybe a few more calls, probably worth just focusing on the equivalencies. How hard are they?
 
My equivalency were BBC Bitesize GCSE type stuff, but I did resent doing both, as I have English but couldn't prove it :mad: Maths was a different story though....couldn't prove a negative 😶 I thought it was a Very Hard Work. And if I was maomao I'd think it was a lot of very pointless hard work.
 
5t3IIa said:
I hesitate to throw out advice as you clearly have this 99% in hand but my sense would be to quote .gov websites back at them :D
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I've asked them if they will meet the cost of equivalency exams if I can prove age discrimination (OCR won't search for results before 2000). They are taking a VERY long time to answer.
 
Cid said:
It seems a somewhat absurd situation, especially given most prospective teachers hold a UK degree. But yeah, beyond maybe a few more calls, probably worth just focusing on the equivalencies. How hard are they?
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English looks a piece of piss. Maths will take some practise and I'll need a calculator. My main objection is the 400 odd quid it's going to cost me and all the time.
 
I didn't need to provide evidence of my English O Levels as I have a degree in English Language and Literature, but I had to do my Maths GCSE as I hadn't seen my school certificate in thirty years
 
maomao said:
English looks a piece of piss. Maths will take some practise and I'll need a calculator. My main objection is the 400 odd quid it's going to cost me and all the time.
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I had to move fast to do my maths as there was a 'no calculator' rule coming in after (possibly) May 20! This was ncfe though, so poss. other providers differ.
 
Well the help-lines have given up and given me an email address for teacher training admissions. I want to email the following but I'm a little frayed at the moment and would like to know if the language is too strong or if I'm dumping the course leader in it:

Dear sir/madam,

I was very happy yesterday to receive a conditional acceptance for your PGCE Secondary English course however I have a minor problem with the conditions.

Firstly I can provide my degree certificate at any time. There is no issue with this condition.

I emailed the course leader (Dr ______) before applying and explained that I do not have GCSE certificates for Maths and English. They were lost in a house flood in 2006. He suggested that this was something that could be worked out during the course itself so I stopped panicking and did not chase up, concentrating instead on preparing for the interview.

I have now been told on your admissions line that if I do not have GCSE certificates by August 31st I will not be allowed to join the course. Obviously this is very bad news for me as I have gone to great lengths to get accepted.

My old school (Edmonton County) does not know what exam board was used and does not keep records on students over 25. One of the exam boards it thinks is responsible is OCR. OCR are now no longer dealing with enquiries for exams taken before the year 2000. The other two, AQA and edexcel are saying that they cannot promise any time scale for tracking down certificates before 2000. As I took my GCSEs in 1990 this seems to me to be age discrimination. I am not able to recover my qualifications as easily as a younger student. I would like to know what steps the university can take to mitigate this discrimination.

The Get Into Teaching website suggests that the deadline for producing exam results has been moved back to November. And I have been working on this as my deadline since beginning my application. This would give me enough time to contact the other two exam boards in order of likelihood and hopefully get proof of my original results. May I ask why this is not the case at UEL? Coronavirus has impacted both the timing of my application and the ability of the exam boards to provide proof of results.

I've been told I should take an equivalency exam through the A star site. Places are very limited before the deadline (unless I take them both next week with zero preparation). Is the online version of the exam acceptable? If it is the case that my exam results are with OCR would the university meet the costs of the exam in order to mitigate the age discrimination factor?

I apologise for my flood of questions and am looking forward to starting my course in September.

Kind regards
 
I might start with what .gov says*, as that is the actual rules that they should all be following. That's your high level. Then work down through your research/mitigations, as work you have already done after getting incorrect (?) advice. Don't offer to do anything futher (take equivalencies etc) as .gov says you don't have to, as you can demonstrate competence. Big rewrite :thumbs:

edit: * = quotes from .gov website with links, ask if there's any newer advice from the government, and can they point you to it. That link above is from 38 days ago - there won't have been any major changes. You have done your research, and it is now their turn to demonstrate they can conterract, with proof.
 
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Yep, sit on it over the weekend and maybe do a bit of a rewrite when you’re in a good mood. But broadly seems ok... just perhaps temper the age discrimination thing, as presumably this is a government requirement rather than uni specific.
 
maomao said:
I think I've fucked up. I was cautioned for shoplifting aged thirteen or fourteen (I think 13 but god knows, it's over thirty years ago) When I did the UCAS application everything I read seemed to advise that this would be filtered and I should not declare it. So I didn't.

Now I have read advice to the effect that I really should have disclosed this as it is an enhanced check. I've read and reread the giv dbs site and I just find it confusing. I've submitted all my forms. Should I ask the admissions officer for advice tomorrow? I'm having a massive panic about it.
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I thought everything from back then would have disappeared when you were 17
 
5t3IIa said:
Also, you can send this on Monday. No need to panic, right? :)
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I'll send it today and go back to bed. I've put my back out terribly and have put off taking painkillers till I've done this cause I don't want to be woozy. I've made all the suggested changes. Thanks a lot to everyone for replying.

I joined the NEU as a trainee last night. They explicitly say they won't help with problems that existed before I joined. But if they do go hard and insist the same rules apply to everyone then it is age discrimination so I will contact them.
 
Pickman's model said:
I thought everything from back then would have disappeared when you were 17
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I'm over that panic now. The caution remains on the police database though it would definitely be filtered in all normal DBS checks. A grumpy policeman could include it on an enhanced DBS though it would make no sense as it has nothing to do with teaching. If this did happen I can show I had legal advice not to include it. The offence itself is pretty much meaningless and unlikely to be a problem. Though it did mean I had to pay for Iron Maiden's third album unlike the first two which I got for free.
 
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