Postgraduate Certificate Teaching in Higher Education

Applications are now open for the September 2026 cohort of the Post Graduate Certificate Teaching in Higher Education.

The course aims to develop an evidence-based, reflective, and critical approach to learning, teaching, and assessment in Higher Education. It leads to Advance HE Fellowship status and it is delivered by staff from the Sheffield Institute of Education.

Places on the course are limited and allocated as received by our Admissions Team. The deadline for applications is 31st May 2026. The deadline for responding to and confirming offers made is 30th July 2026. Please note if we have not heard from you by this time we may need to offer your place to another applicant.

Course details

• The course runs in term time at City Campus.
• It is for academic staff who do not hold a teaching qualification in higher education.
• Peer networking is an essential and valued component with many useful connections made within and across Colleges.
• This is a Post-Graduate academic qualification in Education and requires a commitment to study Education as a discipline at this level.
• Face to face teaching takes place in a workshop style three-hour study block once a week.
• Online live teaching takes place for some weeks of the semester in addition to the workshop.
• The course starts with a mandatory two-day induction in September that you are expected to attend.
• Semester two begins with a mandatory one-day induction in January.
• Please note your application to the course is taken as a commitment to attend the mandatory induction and teaching sessions as detailed below so please ensure you can meet this requirement prior to applying.

Pre-enrolment Organisation site

Once you have accepted your offer and prior to the course beginning in September, you will be added to a pre-enrolment blackboard Organisation site using your staff email. This site will contain key information about the course to support you to prepare for the programme. Details about the timetabled sessions will be made available at this time. This resource is likely to be available from July 2026.

Workplan implications

• Workplan allocation for completing the course will be confirmed by your line manager.
• It is expected that you will be released from other duties to attend all scheduled teaching sessions.
• Line managers please be aware that to fulfil the requirements of the course, all applicants will need to have scheduled teaching in both semester one and semester two and will need to be involved in the design of the sessions in which they will be observed in semester one and two.

Funding

If completing the course is a contractual requirement this will be funded centrally by the university and there is no requirement to complete a SIFF form. If this is not a requirement of your contract you will need to explore institute funding options with your line manager.

Entry requirements

• You should hold an Undergraduate Degree or equivalent (please contact the course leader Sarah Rawding s.rawding@shu.ac.uk to check relevance of professional qualifications).
• You need to have a minimum of 60 hours of scheduled teaching during the academic year (most staff will have more than this) and this MUST include teaching in Semester one and Semester two.
• Priority for places on the course will be allocated to individuals where the PgCert/Fellowship is a requirement of the contract of employment, please see below for further details on this.
• You must have the opportunity to contribute to the development and review of teaching and learning materials in both semester one and two to fulfil the requirements of the assessments.
• Agreement from your line manager is confirmed via the Line manager checklist. Please be aware that this confirms the allocation of workplan hours, release time to attend the course and the opportunity to design teaching and learning opportunities. Approval must be confirmed via the line manager checklist (e-signature required) and failure to submit a signed form with your application will result in a delay in the admissions process and potential loss of an allocated place on the course as well as possible personal responsibility for course fees.
• Please be aware, we are not able to accept applications if you are on a student visa.

We are initially looking to recruit to one group and face to face teaching will take place on a Friday morning with some online live sessions throughout both semesters on a Wednesday afternoon. Once we reach capacity, applicants who have met all conditions will be added to a waiting list and offered a place if one becomes available prior to the mandatory induction in September. Please note, if we have sufficient applications we may be able to offer two groups. Teaching for the second group will be on a Thursday morning plus the Wednesday afternoon online live (in some weeks). If no places become available, all applicants on the waiting list, that have fulfilled the entry requirements will be offered a place on the next cohort starting in September 2027. Please note that line managers will need to complete a revised checklist for this intake.

Contractual requirements

Priority for places on the course will be given to academic staff for whom the PgCert/Fellowship is a contractual requirement. Your line manager will confirm this at the application stage. If you are not required to complete Fellowship/PgCert as part of your contract but want to complete the course and have agreement from your line manager (and there is institute funding available or you are self-funding), you will be added to a waiting list and allocated a place if one becomes available prior to the mandatory induction in September.

Application guidance for staff applying to do the course

Download and fill in the application form. Please note, the deadline for applications is 31st May 2026 and places on the course will be allocated on a first come first served basis, subject to the contractual requirements. If you have not fulfilled all requirements of the offer by 30th July 2026 your place may be allocated to another applicant.

Find out more:

Line Manager Checklist (DOCX, 18.4KB)

Application form (DOCX, 60.7KB)