jozu

I am a UK citizen thinking of migrating to Australia as a teacher. I have the opportunity to study a PGCE in the UK and get a bursary. Is it worth my while spending AUD20,000 to study the same course in Australia? Obviously if I decide to apply for a job in Australia after my studies it would make it more convenient, would it not?

I like to hear what you think.

quoll

Shouldnt think it would make much difference - other than what you have forked out as an international student. There is no guarantee that you would get permanent residence having been an international student and you could find yourself back in UK and fighting all those who will have done PGCEs for a job.

If you can be paid to do a degree I think you would be silly not to take the opportunity. Choose your course wisely - science and advance maths at HS level are usually in demand and given historical trends are the ones most likely to be in demand after you have got your QTS status.

Nailed it

Its a tough decision, I am currently teaching in the UK ,having trained here and I'm now looking to migrate. If I could afford it, I'd study in Oz and then do my best to stay. If you study here, you have to complete a year as a Newly Qualified Teacher before Teaching Australia will recognise your teaching qualification for migration purposes...as far as I know. Then, points and visa dependant you may need to have notched up a decent amount of time in paid work experience. I think if you study there and are good at what you do you will find it easier to get a job compared to someone who is coming into their education system from overseas. Having said that, I'm still going and still believe that my training has served me well, sorry if thats not much help, I guess it depends how urgently you want to be there and how much money you have.

geelong

It seems that Australian qualifications are preferred, though it's not impossible with UK ones. Good luck.

Gems

You can work here with UK qualification, lots of teachers here from UK.
Both would work if you can afford the expensive fees for Aus.

However hubby has recently had a final year student in his class. Basically he was not impressed. It was their final placement after 4 years and they basically didnt have a clue.

He now thinks UK teaching courses are better.

Gems

carolinephillips

You would still have to spend time and money in Australia to get your teaching quals recognised. At my age, and experience I can't be bothered spending time and money being inspected and treated like a student again, so they have lost a special needs co-ordinator from the workforce.

ozhappy981

To get your UK qualifications recognised in Oz and to be able to work as a teacher, you need to have a three-year university degree plus a one year PGCE, or have done a four year B.Ed course.

If you do the UK Graduate Teacher Programme course (GTP), be aware that this is not recognised in Australia.

Thought I'd just mention this, because others have been bitterly disappointed about this before.

There is a separate teacher's forum here, where you might get more answers/suggestions:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=80

Dorothy

Based on one 4th year student? Perhaps that particular student had no clue, but I'm sure there are others who are very good at what they do.