One of the many reasons I chose to study BSc (Hons) Mathematics with Education was because of the chance to gain valuable experience in a school during my third year of studying.
I have always wanted to be a teacher so having the opportunity to go into a school, observe a regular teaching day, see different teaching styles, and eventually to teach a class as a part of one of my final year modules, confirmed my career choice. This, together with my mathematical education-based final year project, gave me a head start when I came to study my PGCE year. The school placement module gave me the confidence to be in front of a class of 30 pupils and to be able to start understand how to teach the subject before the PGCE course had begun, while the final year project helped me to understand how to write and construct an good academic report in preparation for the masters level assignments that are expected in the teacher training year.
One aspect of the course I particularly enjoyed was the opportunity to solely study mathematics in the first and second years and to carry on studying four mathematics modules during my final year while also studying the education modules. The modules on offer consolidate the content taught at A-Level but also introduce and explore interesting topics, some of which are unique to the lecturers at Plymouth.
