Applicants are required to hold appropriate general educational qualifications, including GCSE in English and Mathematics at grade C or above. Qualifications of non-graduates must be equivalent to an Honours degree of a British university. The course has a good record of student-teachers gaining employment in schools and colleges. Student-teachers develop and extend their experience of Art and Design by relating this to the needs of pupils and schools through the acquisition of professional, specialist skills. This expertise is developed in the context of contemporary issues in Art and Design Education.
Study includes lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, independent study and peer-teaching.
Some schools have multicultural populations and all offer a rich variety of teaching experiences. Collaborative work typically continues in secondary schools, where students are introduced to the teaching role through observation, shared responsibility and individual responsibility. After substantial individual teaching, small-scale action research projects are negotiated and implemented in schools. University course work runs concurrently and relates to school-based study, so that theory and practice are related throughout. Professional issues and their contexts are emphasised alongside Art and Design as specialist subjects.