Teaching Maths, English, ESOL or SEN requires a set of skills which is particular to those areas. Often the learners have confidence issues, and the subjects need to be approached in a particularly sympathetic manner. To address this issue, specific qualifications have been developed to assist teachers of these subjects and these are the specialist diplomas. They may be undertaken in a variety of manners. For those who are already qualified as teachers who wish to gain this additional area of expertise, they may be taken as part time stand-alone qualifications: the stand alone diplomas. For those who do not hold a full teaching qualification and/or are new to teaching, they may be taken in conjunction with a DET (the full teaching qualification), either as an integrated part of the course, or alongside as an additional qualification.
For details of each of these pathways see the FE Teaching Qualifications page:
Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training including a specialist pathway – 120 credits
Level 5 integrated specialist diplomas – 120 credits
Level 5 standalone specialist diplomas – 45 credits