PGCE and MA options for students in Classics & Ancient History, University of Manchester.

1. Careers in Teaching

2. Why?
• A way of staying in touch with Classics and
Ancient History
• Classical Subjects a boom area: since 1999, c.
450 centres have started to offer GCSE/ A-
level in Classics/Class Civ/Ancient
History/Greek/Latin
• Opportunities to move into other subject
areas

3. Teaching
• Starting point: Teaching Development Agency:
http://www.tda.gov.uk/
• Applications through Graduate Teacher
Training Registry: http://www.gttr.ac.uk/
• The deadline for primary school PGCE is
1/12/11

4. Possible Routes
• PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education)
route: usually subject specific
• GTP (Graduate Teacher Programme)
• BEd (3 years full time)

5. Teaching Ancient History/ Classics (1)
• ONE ROUTE is the PGCE in Classics
• Cambridge, Kings’ College London
• Require a good degree in a classical/ancient
history subject
• A-level standard Latin

6. Teaching Ancient History/Classics (2)
• Classics PGCE requires Latin to A-level
standard; is very competitive
• Option to take a PGCE History: introduce
Ancient History to your school!

7. JACT
• http://www.jact.org/
• Website for information on classical teaching
• Worth joining and cheap - £16 for a student
membership
• Two free journals: Omnibus and Journal of
Classical Teaching

9. MA in Classics and
Ancient History

10. Why do an MA?
Good reasons:
• Want to learn more!
• Preparation for a PhD in Classics & Ancient History.
• Preparation for a Classics PGCE.
• Increase employability, develop ‘transferable skills’….

11. Why do an MA?
Less good reasons:
• Addicted to student life.
•Can’t get a job.
• Don’t know what else to do.

12. Outcomes:
At the end of the MA, students will:
• demonstrate the enhancement of previously acquired skills at a
more critical, reflective, and sophisticated level, especially skills
involving synthesising information from a variety of sources,
historical and/or literary interpretation, exercising independent
and critical judgement.
•understand and respect the ‘otherness’ of the past by developing
specialist knowledge about one or more aspect of Graeco-Roman
civilisation.
• be able to design and complete a substantial piece of
independent research.
• work effectively as autonomous scholars.
• be able to understand complex problems and communicate
them clearly in oral and written form, with the help, where
appropriate, of visual or graphic aids.

13. Course Structure and Content
You take 180 credits, made up of:
1. Research training: 30 credits. (‘Core seminar’: covers, e.g.,
epigraphy; commentaries; literary theory; numismatics;
reception studies…)
2. Three taught course-units: 3 x 30 credits
1. Greek or Latin (at any level: Beginners to Advanced III)
(or a modern language: French, Italian, German).
2. Dedicated M.A. course-units (range of topics in Greek
and Roman history, literature, and culture).
3. ‘Directed Reading’ units.
3. Dissertation: 60 credits (12-15,000 words)

14. Specialist ‘Pathways’:
• City of Rome (includes course at British School at Rome).
• Greek Myth and Society.

15. Contact hours, workload, assessment, lifestyle…
• Contact hours for each 30-credit unit: from 6 hours (‘one-on-one’ tutorial-style
teaching for Directed Reading) to 33 hours (for Language courses).
• Each 30 credit unit requires (at least!) 300 hours of work: much of it independent.
• Assessment is usually by extended essay (6000 words) or by examination.
• The course lasts for 12 months (Sept – Sept); undergraduate vacations do not apply.
• You will be able (and encouraged) to become an active member of the Departmental
Research Community, by (for example):
• Attending our weekly research seminar.
• Participating in the staff-postgraduate Monday Lunch.
• Attending conferences and seminars held in the department.
• You will be able (and encouraged) to become an active participant in the national (or
international!) research community by (for example):
• Attending specific training courses and events organised on a national level.
• Participating in major conferences held outside Manchester (Classical
Association Annual Conference, Annual Meeting of Postgraduate Ancient
Historians, etc etc…)

16. Part-time Options:
It is possible to take the MA over 2 years. This will usually involve:
• Year 1: 2 x 30 credit units (usually: Research skills + Language); begin work on
dissertation.
• Year 2: 2 x 30 credit units; complete dissertation (60 credits).
• Timetabling can be flexible, but you will need to be able to attend University at least
two days per week (usually Monday + Thursday).

17. Costs
• Tuition fees: £5000 FT (or £2500 + c.£2500 PT)
• Maintenance: c.£5000?
• [Those on the ‘City of Rome’ pathway who attend the
British School at Rome course will face additional
maintenance costs of c.€2000.]

18. Grants, bursaries, etc
• No central (government) funding for the MA.
• Some assistance available at School/Departmental level (one or
two partial fees bursaries).
• Rylands Achievement Awards: £500 towards fees for
Manchester graduates with first-class degrees.
• Access bursaries to assist with maintenance costs (two
available in the School).

19. Application
• Apply online:
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduatestudy/apply/
• Provide two academic references.
• Applications are assessed individually and on merit. But ...
• we usually expect applicants to have (or be on course for) a 2.1
(including a 2.1 in the undergraduate dissertation).
• Deadline: if you are applying for funding: 15 Feb 2012. Otherwise:
any time before the end of August 2012.

20. Next steps….
• Talk to your Academic Advisor, dissertation supervisor, course tutors, etc…
• Talk to the Postgraduate Programme Director (polly.low@manchester.ac.uk)
• Look out for details of funding opportunities (should be advertised by email/online
within the next two weeks).
• Read prospectuses; compare courses. (nb: you can apply to as many MA programmes
as you like).