Graduate Certificate or Diploma of Secondary Teaching

Graduate certificates and diplomas serve two different purposes. Certificates allow students to specialise in a particular area of secondary teaching, whereas diplomas provided a more well-rounded yet lengthier alternative.

Where Edith Cowan University provides a graduate certificate specialising in design and technology, Murdoch University has a course dedicated to secondary mathematics. Specialisations vary between institutions and courses, giving students significant freedom to choose their preferred path. These take six months of full-time study to complete, or up to a year part-time.

Graduate diplomas from Edith Cowan University take one year to complete if studied full time, or two years part-time. Units in secondary teaching practices, indigenous education, numeracy, literacy and a host of general skills are taught with theoretical and practical components.

Employment options

The employment options detailed here are excellent for secondary teaching graduates. Joining associations like the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers or disciplinary equivalent are a fantastic way to make invaluable connections and build existing skills in addition to gaining employment. Schools around the country require dedicated secondary teachers to function.

Scholarships and funding

Students of secondary teaching have access to the STGA Postgraduate Award in Education, which provides $4,000 to students of education who are Australian citizens. There are also a number of general opportunities available:

• The Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship provides a hefty $120,000. Students can be from any discipline to acquire this scholarship, provided they have at least a distinction GPA (75%). Showing an interest in strengthening Australia’s ties to Asia is also a requirement, which ought to be reflected in each application. Two references, both academic and personal are also mandatory.
• Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships are worth $69,500pa and are judged solely on merit. Australian National University hosts these opportunities across disciplines.
• Fulbright Scholarships are special opportunities to study in the US, worth roughly $40,000. They are specifically for Australian students.
• The Indigenous Australian Graduate Scholarship, also offered by ANU, provides a disadvantaged student of Aboriginal or Torres Strait descent $26,682 so long as they’ve distinguished themselves in a prior study with at least second class honours.

Prerequisites and selection process

Graduate certificates demand students have a Bachelor of Education to enter, as they act as a capstone for an existing teaching qualification. Graduate diplomas, on the other hand, are somewhat more lax, allowing students to be from ‘cognate disciplines.’ This constitutes a broad array of disciplines, including science, English, mathematics, geography and other core curriculum subjects.