Professional Skills Test Day

The School of Education recently held a Professional Skills Test Day to provide help and support to those thinking of training to teach. Before starting a course that leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) you must first pass the Professional Skills Tests in numeracy and literacy which has proven to be a real challenge for some applicants.

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The event was open to those who had already applied to the University of Brighton and those considering applying to one of our undergraduate or postgraduate initial teacher training courses.

The event was fully booked in advance and included a choice of sessions which were led by student ambassador trainee teachers in areas such as mental arithmetic skills, interpreting and using written data, problem solving, spelling and grammar and reading comprehension. There was also a mindfulness session to help applicants to focus.

Pippa Totraku, Principal Lecturer Lead for Planning and Admissions said “Our trainee teachers were highly organised on the day, ready to give specific advice on how to prepare for and manage time effectively when taking the Professional Skills Tests. Those who attended really appreciated our ambassadors willingness to discuss their personal experiences plus share the little tips that you can’t read in books. It was a really successful day and attendees reported feeling more confident in their ability to pass the skills tests.”

One of the attendees on the day said “The day was really helpful and everything was very well explained. Everyone answered the questions we asked. It seems like a really friendly place to study. Hope to see you in September.”

TWILIGHT SESSIONS
The school will also be running additional twilight sessions for numeracy tests support at the Falmer Campus on the following dates:

• Wednesday 9 May (4pm – 6pm)
• Wednesday 16 May (4pm – 6pm)
• Wednesday 23 May (4pm – 6pm)

If you would like to book onto any of these sessions, please email our student ambassador:
Hannah Cheeseman
H.cheeseman1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

You can find out more about the Professional Skills Test on the Department for Education website.