Physical Education with QTS

Physical education with Qualified Teacher Status is a degree that combines your passion for sport and physical activity with the skills and professional formation to teach it effectively in schools. PE teachers play a role that goes well beyond sport: they contribute to young people's long-term health, wellbeing and self-confidence, and they shape attitudes toward physical activity that can persist for a lifetime. Teaching PE well requires both deep subject knowledge and strong pedagogical skill, an understanding of child development, the ability to motivate reluctant participants and the capacity to manage a class safely and effectively.

At the University of Sunderland, this three-year full-time programme prepares you to inspire young people by sharing your love of physical education, as the university describes. You will study the science underpinning physical activity, including exercise physiology, biomechanics and sport psychology, alongside curriculum design, pedagogy, inclusion and the practicalities of school-based physical education. Because the degree leads to Qualified Teacher Status, substantial time is spent on school placement, where you will plan and teach lessons, receive professional mentoring and develop the classroom skills that define effective teaching.

These placements are the core of professional teacher education and cannot be replicated in university settings alone.

The degree develops not only subject expertise and pedagogical skill but also reflective practice, professional communication and the resilience that teaching requires. You will graduate with both a degree in physical education and full QTS, ready to enter the profession directly.

Graduates enter teaching as newly qualified PE teachers in secondary schools, where progression to head of department, assistant headteacher and beyond is the typical career trajectory. Some graduates also work in primary PE, sports development, coaching, health promotion or youth sport. Further study in education leadership or a related subject is an option for those who want to develop toward senior school leadership roles.