Outstanding teachers
train with us
St Mary’s College School Direct Partnership will provide you with excellent teacher training and future career prospects.
All our primary and secondary programmes are coordinated by St Mary’s College and accredited by Hull SCITT. Our courses are 100% school-based and, as well as gaining Qualified Teaching Status (QTS), include the option to achieve the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE, Masters Level 7) from the University of Hull.
Our primary training placements are all based in Catholic primary schools in Hull. These schools are all part of St Cuthbert’s Catholic Academy Trust.
All our secondary training programmes include a placement at St Mary’s College, and an additional placement at one of our secondary partner schools: The Marvell College, Kelvin Hall School and The Boulevard Academy.
If you are a prospective applicant for teacher training and would like to gain some school experience, why not visit us on one of our regular Open Days?
Register your details with us to find out more about our programmes and to join our mailing list.
Tel: 01482 808830 or 01482 808807
Email: schooldirect@smchull.org
Search for our training vacancies
St Mary’s College School Direct Partnership will soon be advertising more primary and secondary ‘School Direct’ teacher training places for the 2023-24 academic year. The application process for these places will be open from October 2022 onwards.
For more detailed information on all of our courses, please use the Department for Education’s site https://www.gov.uk/find-postgraduate-teacher-training-courses
or click this link to go straight to all the available courses at St Mary’s College
and when you are ready to apply, please use: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-teacher-training
You can search all of our training courses on the DFE Find Post-graduate Teacher Training site.
Please register with us so we have your details on file and we can keep you up-to-date with the latest information: call 01482 808830 (or 01482 808807) or email Laura on schooldirect@smchull.org
Further details on how to apply can be found further down this page, and on this website’s Training Vacancies page.
Fees and Funding
The course fees are £8325 for the QTS course. The optional PGCE qualification costs an additional £925. Therefore the combined cost of the QTS and PGCE course is £9250.
For 2022-23 there were bursaries and scholarships available for trainees in key shortage subjects – Science, Computing, Mathematics, Languages, Design Technology and Geography. You can see what bursaries were available on the link below. The Department for Education will announce the funding available for 2023-24 courses in October this year.
View government information about bursaries and funding for School Direct 2022-23 here
Student finance is able to provide loans to support trainees in other subjects and at primary.
Our Secondary Teacher Training programmes
Our secondary School Direct programme:
- Leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with the option of gaining Masters-level PGCE from the University of Hull.
- Runs for the full academic year (September 2023 – July 2024) so that you feel like a true member of the school staff and students treat you as such.
- Guarantees you will train in high-achieving and successful schools with a supportive and caring environment in which to train – St Mary’s College, The Marvell College, Kelvin Hall and the Boulevard Academy all have a strong caring and compassionate ethos. St Mary’s College is a Catholic school and, whilst we welcome applications from people with any faith background (or none), you will notice that the atmosphere of tolerance, respect, forgiveness and reconciliation provides both staff and students with the ideal conditions for personal, academic and professional development.
Provides you with specialist training and support – As part of your training, you will receive high quality mentoring, a comprehensive professional studies programme, subject knowledge enhancement, and university-led tuition to support your PGCE assignments.- Offers varied school experience – As well as your two main placements, we also arrange visits to a Primary school, Special School and Free School as part of your programme to enable you to gain further experience of the education sector, as well as ensuring Post-16 experience for secondary trainees.
- Offers access to excellent facilities – St Mary’s College, The Marvell College, Kelvin Hall and the Boulevard Academy have all benefited from multi-million pound government investment. Our schools have state-of-the-art facilities which provide students and staff with a very pleasant learning and working environment and access to the latest technology in all curriculum areas.
St Mary’s College
Rated outstanding by Ofsted- Ranked in the top 100 state schools nationally for pupil progress
- Designated as a Regional Teaching School Hub, National Support School, International School and World Class school.
St Mary’s College is the Regional Teaching School Hub for Hull and East Yorkshire (called Vantage) and a National Support School. The college is judged to be an Outstanding School by Ofsted and tops national league tables for its examination results and support for pupil progress. The college has a well developed Initial Teacher Training programme run by highly experienced classroom teachers and subject leaders. You will receive high quality training, mentoring and coaching and be well supported throughout your training year and in return we are looking for outstanding trainees with enthusiasm and a real desire to teach and excel in their subject area.
We hold regular school experience days and information sessions for potential ITT applicants to the school. For more information and to reserve a place, please contact Laura on 01482 808830 (or 808807).
For more information, please visit: www.smchull.org
The Marvell College
The Marvell College is a new academy founded on the belief that its students can achieve amazing things with the right support and encouragement. The teachers at the college are all high-motivated professionals who work hard to ensure that the students benefit from high quality pastoral care, and make rapid progress thanks to strong teaching.
There is a close partnership with St Mary’s College which ensures that successful strategies and systems are shared and that many staff have trained and worked across both schools. This helps us to provide trainee teachers with real consistency of experience and expectations as they move between placements during their training year.
For more information, please visit: http://www.themarvellcollege.com
Kelvin Hall School
Kelvin Hall School is an exciting and enjoyable place to learn, where relationships between staff and pupils are positive and happy. We are committed to providing teaching and learning opportunities of the highest possible standard.
Our aim is to create a school community that achieves success by working together. We believe that Kelvin Hall is a place where people can thrive, talent can grow and community is promoted.
We celebrate success and value all individuals. Pupils are encouraged to be leaders in their learning and they are the very best people to tell you about Kelvin Hall School. We are very experienced at supporting trainee teachers and nurturing their talent to help them become the best teachers they can be.
Kelvin Hall is part of the THRIVE Co-operative Learning Trust which consists of nine local schools (2 secondary, 7 primary).
For more information, please visit: www.kelvinhall.net
The Boulevard Academy
The Boulevard Academy is one of the newest schools in Hull, having welcomed its first pupils in September 2013. The school famously occupies the site of Hull FC’s former Boulevard ground and enjoys strong ties with the Super League Club.
The exceptional staff at Boulevard share a strong commitment to the principles and ideals of an achievement-based and aspirational culture. From the outset the goal has been to create an inclusive school which reflects the increasingly high expectation and aspiration of the local community.
The caring, yet aspirational, culture at The Boulevard Academy comes from the extremely high value placed on the strong relationships between students, staff and parents. We believe that nothing is achieved without effort and that by working together and forming strong relationships there is no limit to what we can achieve for our students.
Our students all develop core values such as respect, kindness and responsibility. These core values are the foundation for developing into young people who are equipped to make a positive contribution to our Academy community and subsequently our local community.
Visit our website: www.theboulevardacademy.com
Course Requirements
Successful applicants need to hold a degree from a UK Higher Education institution or equivalent and have GCSE grade C / grade 4 in English and Mathematics (and a GCSE Science subject too for Primary places). Hull SCITT does offer GCSE equivalency tests if you are missing one of these qualifications. Please contact us for more details.
If you studied outside of the UK, you should visit the UK Enic website (previously called NARIC) to find out whether your qualifications are of an equivalent level to UK GCSEs, A levels and an undergraduate degree.
The School Direct Training Programme focuses on developing teaching skills. You should have a strong understanding of the subject you wish to teach before you start training. If your degree subject does not link closely to your chosen teaching subject, it is recommended that you undertake a subject knowledge enhancement course before you begin training
There is also a School Direct (salaried) route which is aimed at career changers who wish to enter the teaching profession. Therefore, in addition to the requirements outlined above, applicants for our School Direct (salaried) places need to have worked for a minimum of 2-3 years since graduating. This does not need to have been in an educational setting; we value entrants to the teaching profession from all walks of life.
To find out more about the government’s School Direct programme and bursary funding please refer to: http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/teacher-training-options/schooldirect.aspx . Please read this government advice carefully since not all subjects are eligible for the same level of bursary funding and some subjects do not attract bursary funding at all.
Once we receive your application, we will contact you asking for further information and for photocopies of your academic qualifications. You will also be asked to take our own literacy test.
Testimonials from former School Direct trainees
Vicky Elliott [Former Biology salaried School Direct, now SKAP leader for Science at St Mary’s College]
Having previously visited St Mary’s College on a School Experience Open Day, the opportunity to train onsite and gain real school experience through a School Direct placement compared to a university-led route was a clear choice for me.
Building on my previous skills and experience in delivery, I embarked on a salaried trainee placement, enabling me to integrate fully with the staff and children from day one. Not once did I feel like a trainee, accepted and made to feel welcome and valued by adults and children alike.
I was given ample opportunity to develop my skills through high quality training and professional development sessions and numerous interactions with staff. No question was too stupid to ask and no staff member too busy to help.
My second school placement afforded me the opportunity to apply my skills and techniques in a new setting and despite presenting new challenges, moulded me into a fully rounded practitioner, able to adapt to changing circumstances and surroundings. It really was a fantastic and thoroughly beneficial experience.
Harriet Jordan [Former P.E. School Direct, now member of SMC senior team]
The benefits of the School Direct route include real school experience, high quality training, a second school placement, forming a rapport with the pupils due to working full time in school, providing consistency for you as a trainee, and working as part of a team or department. The environment here is friendly, vibrant, fast-paced and comfortable.
Professional development sessions are run every Wednesday to aid professional studies and the support provided here is enormous. I feel I have progressed very well and can only put this down to the support and training St Mary’s have offered.
My advice for someone considering embarking on the School Direct training programme would be to grasp it with both hands. I can completely empathise with those that may be feeling unsure or worried. However, I am confident that this programme will only strengthen their desire to teach. I feel very privileged to be here.
Teach Hull and Humber
St Mary’s College School Direct Partnership is proud to be part of a local network of teacher training providers who are working to recruit and train the next generation of primary and secondary teachers for our region. Read about our work on our network website: www.teachhullandhumber.co.uk
School Direct Hull 