University of Exeter teacher training to be offered at rural hubs

The university said housing problems had "exacerbated" the region's teacher shortages

The University of Exeter is to open teacher training "hubs" to help tackle recruitment problems in rural areas.

It said the hubs would help cut down on travel and housing costs as part of its Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) training.

The three hubs will be based at Exeter, High Bickington in north Devon and Yeovil in Somerset.

Primary school PGCE training was previously only delivered on the university's city campus.

It said the cost of living crisis and housing shortages "have exacerbated teacher recruitment problems in the region".

Courses redesigned

Dr Thomas Ralph, the university's head of initial teacher education, said it was hoped the training hubs "removed barriers" for prospective students.

"We know the cost of living and the geography of the South West makes it hard for schools to recruit teachers and we have worked alongside them for many years to help to resolve this issue," he said.

"Recent government changes to the way PGCE courses are delivered gave us the opportunity to remodel our programmes and we focused on designing courses that would support schools to recruit high-quality teachers by delivering our training more locally."

The three hubs - based at Fiveways School in Yeovil, High Bickington Community Centre in north Devon and the university's St Luke's Campus - open in September.

The university said PGCE courses for secondary school teachers will continue to be delivered in Exeter, but trainees will only have to be on campus for two days a week during the autumn term.

It said the rest of the time they can be based near their school placements.