Assessment Handbook - Initial Teacher Education: PGCE (England, N Ireland, Wales) and PGDE (Scotland)
Appendix 1 School placement structure
School placements should normally follow the following criteria:
- Placements should be completed within a 4 month time span.
- Placements, when necessary, may be split over any holiday except the summer break. The exception is Level 2, where the primary placement can take in the Summer Term and the secondary placement at the beginning of the Autumn term the next school year.
- Do not plan placements to end on the last day of term - build in contingency time in case of illness or other personal circumstances.
- Flexible elements will normally be taken before continuous and sustained elements.
- The primary placement should be taken before the continuous and sustained element or immediately after the continuous and sustained element (in the latter case, permission must be sought before hand from the Subject Leader). If this is not possible, the Level 2 portfolio must be submitted after the sustained element of the placement and the primary placement will be set as a target for Level 3.