All candidates must have some experience of working with children. The year has a professional emphasis with the majority of time spent in school. There are three different school placements. The first two weeks are spent in a primary school chosen by the student. This is followed by two days a week and a block placement at a second school, and the pattern is repeated in the third school.
Students have an increasing responsibility for a whole class.
Schools are in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire. School and university work is closely linked. The students' knowledge and competence as classroom teachers are judged by their performance in the final block of school experience, six short written assignments in core subjects and a longer written assignment in their specialist subject. Students keep a record that shows they have met the standards for newly qualified teachers. Selection is based on GTTR form and interview.