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Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education

Transform your teaching practice in higher education with a flexible, online postgraduate certification from Falmouth University. Gain teaching strategies that foster student success across various learning contexts.

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Time investment: 1 year

Location: Online

Cost: £3,394

Language: English

About this degree

Support student learning and your teaching career with an online PGCert

As the education industry evolves, upskilling is essential to stay ahead of the curve and maximise your impact as an educator.

Through Falmouth University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) course, you’ll gain the expertise needed to support and enhance your work in and face-to-face teaching and learning contexts.

With its hands-on, collaborative approach, this teaching qualification challenges you to push the limits of your practice, ultimately creating innovative learning experiences through effective assessment strategies and student engagement methodologies.

Put pedagogical theory into practice

You’ll begin this course by exploring the range of theories, concepts, and practices involved in higher education (HE). With this insight, you’ll be able to evaluate and develop your practice in real-time to enhance student learning and experiences.

Through a mix of activities, you’ll engage in hands-on learning and reflective discussions, sharing your understanding of pedagogy while incorporating insights from your teaching context.

Design inclusive learning environments

Collaborating with HE professionals from diverse backgrounds, you’ll explore ways to create inclusive learning spaces that accommodate all students. You’ll examine strategies to promote accessibility and equity, ensuring every learner feels supported and engaged in their educational journey.

Enhance assessment and feedback practices

Throughout this course, you’ll gain teaching strategies that empower you to design effective assessments tailored to diverse student needs. You’ll learn how to implement various feedback methods that not only assess understanding but also encourage growth and self-reflection.

With these assessment strategies and by fostering constructive feedback loops, you’ll enhance student engagement and drive better learning outcomes.

Grow your professional development with Falmouth University

By the time you finish this course, you’ll feel confident in your ability to critically reflect on your teaching practice and integrate new strategies into your work.

You’ll develop a strong foundation in pedagogical theory and its practical applications, enhancing your role as an effective educator and arming you with the teaching skills to grow your career.

Where you’ll be studying

Studying at Falmouth University

Creativity is not just confined to campus. Falmouth University has been a leading creative institution for over 100 years and a pioneer in online study since 2016.

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Learning outcomes

Dive into key ideas in teaching and learning, using them to build strategies that support student success in higher education.

Design and adapt learning environments – whether online, in-person, or blended – that are flexible and inclusive.

Experiment with different ways of assessing and giving feedback, so that it helps students learn and grow.

Build your skills as a reflective practitioner by evaluating your own teaching and trying new ideas, with guidance from the latest research in education.

Connect with peers across disciplines to share experiences, gain fresh perspectives, and work together to tackle common challenges in supporting student learning.

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Additional information

Ideally, you should hold an honours degree or substantial professional experience to apply for this online certification. However, candidates without a degree or formal qualification are also encouraged to apply.

As part of the application process, you’ll be asked to submit a description of your prior experience, motivations for studying the course, and how you believe it will develop your career aspirations.

Falmouth expects applicants to undertake sufficient learner-facing teaching or student support activities in a higher education context during the course, whether in-person, online, synchronous or asynchronous. These could include seminars, lectures, assessments, curriculum design, feedback, or other student support services that help you apply what you’ve learned in real time.

If you have prior learning or experience with this subject, you may even be able to apply for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL). You can learn more about this via Falmouth’s APL guide.

If English is not your first language, you’ll need to demonstrate an English level equivalent to IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 5.5 for writing, reading and listening, and 6.0 for speaking.

This part-time, online programme can be completed within a year. You’ll complete two compulsory modules, worth 30 credits each.

On this course, assessment combines written and practical tasks. You’ll design and evaluate curricula, plan and deliver classroom activities, and reflect on your approaches across face-to-face, online, and blended learning environments.

You’ll also complete work-based assignments that are closely tied to your current teaching practice, where you’ll apply pedagogical scholarship and evidence-based strategies to enhance your professional development.

To support this, you’re expected to be involved in learner-facing activities in a higher education setting.

With this certificate, you’ll open doors to opportunities in higher education. Equipped with adaptive teaching strategies and skills in curriculum design, assessment, and student engagement, you’ll be ready to advance in roles across universities, colleges, and digital learning environments, including: