Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) PGCert

Course in brief

The Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) course is designed for mainstream teachers or those working in an educational setting (including practitioners with a particular responsibility for supporting children, young people and adults with dyslexia) who wish to deepen their understanding of dyslexia and link this learning to the School Improvement Plan.

A flexible framework combines academic study with work-based action learning and action research, where your day-to-day professional activity informs your development through reflection and peer discussion.

The PGCert is a stand-alone qualification and counts as one-third of a masters degree.

The course is accredited by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) and qualifies students to apply for Approved Teacher Status (ATS) or Approved Professional Status (APS) as long as they have completed two years (or equivalent) as a teacher or educational professional by the end of the course.

The programme is arranged to fit in with your working patterns and usually include twilight and Saturday sessions.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available for this course. Find out if you are eligible in the fees and funding tab below.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

Part-time 1 year
Part-time Flexible and distributed learning

Accredited by the British Dyslexia Association

Apply online

Please make sure that you meet the entry requirements before applying. If you have any questions the course team will be happy to help.

Apply now for your place

Entry requirements

Degree and experience

You will need to have a good honours degree and experience within an education setting.

To qualify for Approved Teacher Status (ATS) or Approved Professional status (APS), students must have completed two years (or equivalent) as a teacher or educational professional by the end of the course.

All applicants are interviewed – this may be in person or by telephone.

Course in detail

Areas of study

This course will focus on the following areas of study:

developing knowledge of the theoretical basis of contemporary approaches to dyslexia
the identification, assessment and practical support for leaners with dyslexia
creating and delivering specialist intervention programmes and developing dyslexia friendly environments.
the application of learning to practice and evaluation of impact on yourself, your learners or others affected by your study.

This will enable you, as a practitioner, to:

extend and enhance your current practice
gain knowledge of current thinking in the understanding of dyslexia
develop frameworks for understanding the range of issues surrounding working with learners with dyslexia
increase your confidence and effectiveness in supporting learners with dyslexia
learn how to implement change in a range of policy contexts.

Course structure

This postgraduate certificate is a one-year part-time programme comprising three 20-credit modules.

Module 1 focuses on developing criticality in thinking and approaches to learning in the context of dyslexia.

Module 2 provides students with an understanding of how dyslexia is identified and of effective pedagogy for learners with dyslexia in the context of inclusive practice. Students consider the practical application of this learning to their own context and are expected to deliver 10 hours specialist teaching 1:1 with a learner with dyslexia.

Module 3 embeds and develops specialist knowledge, skills and practice while considering the wider issues and debates around inclusion of learners with dyslexia. Teachers will develop a further teaching programme and teach a series of 10 lessons to an individual learner or two learners who are part of a small group.

Students will be expected to deliver 20 hours of evaluated specialist teaching.

The Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) PGCert is based at our Falmer campus. It can also be offered off site to your school or organisation, or delivered as a bespoke programme for a cluster of schools.

To discuss this further, please contact Rosie Moore.
Email: R.Moore2@brighton.ac.uk

Careers and employability

Our PGCerts are designed to support your career progression, increase your subject knowledge and help you to make a direct difference to your school and students.

Graduates of the course are well placed to take on subject development and leadership positions.

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (part-time) 2,040 GBP

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more.

The fees listed here are for the academic year 2017–18.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Visits and contacts tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Surrounded by the South Downs National Park and just five miles from the centre of Brighton, our Falmer campus has benefited from over £60million of investment over the past 10 years. 7,000 students are based here, studying subjects including English, education, social science, nursing and medicine.

Recent developments include the Falmer Sports Centre – with its fitness suites and sports hall – and the innovative Checkland Building, which has natural ventilation systems and an insulating green roof.

Falmer has also recently installed more than 600 solar panels, which reduce the campus’s carbon emissions by more than 80 tonnes. The renovation has made us one of the top universities in the UK for on-site renewable energy production.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

Find out more on our Brighton accommodation webpages and if you have any questions, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field