Welcome to the Education Placements Team!
As soon as you accept a place on the PGCE Secondary course as a Core trainee, we start work on sourcing your placements. You will receive an email from us asking that you complete your personal details section on the Placement Portal, so we have all the information we need to sort placements for you.
If anything should change at any time, just email educationplacements@shu.ac.uk or call 0114 2255990.
We are already recruiting placement offers for 2025/6 in the locality and beyond and will match you to an offer bearing in mind your individual requirements. You will complete 2 block placements at different schools during your PGCE year, plus a 4-day Post 16 Experience placement if you’ve not had the opportunity to work with Post 16 learners in either school.
Each and every allocation is bespoke and reviewed by Course Leaders. Please check the following list of commonly asked placement-related questions and if you need any further information, please contact us.
If you are a Lead Partner trainee then your Lead Partner (STTA or Aston) is responsible for sourcing and allocating your placement so please refer to them if you have any questions regarding this. We will be here to help you throughout your course though and will be in touch with you in September.
We look forward to working with you!
Education Placement Team
Commonly asked placement-related questions
I’ve accepted a place on the course. What happens next?
You will receive an email from the Education Placements Team (EPT) asking that you complete a student information form (SIF) section on the placement portal, so we have all the details we need to start sourcing placements for you. Do not delay! If you need to update us with any changes at any time, please email educationplacements@shu.ac.uk or call 0114 2255990.
I plan to relocate to Sheffield, but I haven’t firmed up my accommodation plans yet.
If you’re not sure where you will be living for your PGCE year, but are relocating to Sheffield, please note this on your SIF, but do remember to email us with your specific address as soon as it is known, so that we can check your exact commutes to placement.
When will I find out my placement school?
We start work on your first block placement as soon as your SIF is submitted but we can’t publish the details until after you are fully enrolled in September or this would contravene GDPR. Wherever possible we publish to the whole cohort at the same time, to give an equitable experience. If other trainees already know where they are placed, they will be Lead Partner (LP) trainees i.e. their placements are not sourced by the EPT Team at SHU.
There’s a secondary school at the bottom of my road. Can I be placed there?
Whilst we work with many schools in the locality and beyond, some schools may opt to work with other universities more local to them, are working with SCITTS or just take LP. Those in partnership with SHU only ever offer a selection of subjects which they feel they can confidently support i.e. we never receive offers for all subjects. As a result, you need to have realistic expectations if you are not placed at a school in your neighbourhood.
I have young children to drop off on my way to placement. Will this be an issue?
All schools expect trainees to be on site by 8am at the latest so if you have childcare arrangements to organise, please bear this in mind. Please share any specific details on the SIF so we can factor them in when looking at commutes to placement. Most schools finish 4-5pm and trainees cannot leave early to collect children from school or nursery.
I have a part-time job. Will this be a problem?
We understand that some trainees need to work part-time to survive financially, however you will not be able to arrive late to placement or leave early to accommodate this. To succeed on the course, priority must be given to the placement experience.
I have a car, but will I be disadvantaged by being given a more remote placement?
As professionals we expect trainees to be honest about their mode of transport to placement. By not declaring use of a car on the SIF, you can really disadvantage others on the same course who are reliant upon public transport. However, it doesn’t mean that those with cars will have longer journeys. Just a note that you won’t be able to submit travel claims for use of public transport if you don’t have the tickets to upload as evidence.
I’ve been advised that my placement school will be less than an hour from home. Is that correct?
No. The maximum commute to placement is 2 hours outbound, and 2 hours return, although we try wherever possible to keep below this. Please remember that allocations are not just about journey times, but the overall placement experience. All allocations are checked carefully by Course Leaders who consider the specific requirements of each individual trainee.
Can I claim the costs of travel to/from placement?
You are only eligible to make travel claims where the return commute to placement exceeds the return commute to SHU, whether by public transport or by car. The logic behind this is that trainees know where SHU is located when applying to the course and when making accommodation decisions. What isn’t known is where their placements will be, so the claim system reimburses the excess. If you plan to live at distance and commute to Sheffield for lectures etc. it may well be that you are not eligible for travel claims, if we have sourced you a placement closer to home than to SHU. The travel policy is being updated for 25/26 and will be available shortly.