MTeach PE4 Transition into the Profession (ECE/Prim/Sec)
The unit MTC610 Professional Experience 4: Transition into the Profession is the capstone experience in the suite of PE units and marks your transition from pre-service teacher to graduate teacher.
Transition into the Profession is a 5-week block placement where you will work alongside an experienced classroom teacher and accept an increasing amount of responsibility for a class of students and their learning.
Please examine the materials below carefully and endeavour to be fully prepared for this most important placement.
MTC610 Professional Experience 4: Transition into the Profession is offered in all study periods.
Enrolling into PE4
During the relevant enrolment window below for the study in which you intend to undertake PE4 please contact the Professional Experience Team (professional.experience@curtin.edu.au) requesting a waiver to enrol in PE4. Students are encouraged to apply for the PE4 enrolment waiver as early as possible.
2025 Enrolment waiver request windows
| Study Period | Enrolment waiver window | Close of enrolment deadline |
| SP1 2025 | 1 January -23 February | 23 February 2025 |
| SP2 2025 | 2 April -25 May | 25 May 2025 |
| SP3 2025 | 9 July – 24 August | 24 August 2025 |
| SP4 2025 | 8 October -17th November | 23 November 2025 |
*Please note, no late enrolments are permitted in any PE4 units.
To be eligible for PE4 unit enrolment waiver students must:
- Ensure all other units in the degree have been successfully completed with the exception of 1 unit that may be taken alongside the PE4 unit.
- Ensure they are in the final study period of the degree.
- Ensure all clearances are up to date and will not expire during the placement (students can check their clearances in SONIA).
- Have their PE4 school secured, including the mentor and supervisor details, ready to upload to SONIA when requested. Students will be emailed a link to complete these forms which must be completed BEFORE the waiver to enrol into PE4 is granted (please note, this step does not apply to WA-based students).
Once all requirements have been met and the PE Team grants the waiver to enrol, students must then enrol into the unit via OUA.
Please note: Do not wait until your PE3 results are available to request a waiver to enrol in PE4, as this may be after the close of enrolments and no late enrolments are permitted in any PE4 units.
*Please note that students are responsible for ensuring they are correctly enrolled.
Transition into the Profession Placement
MTC610 Professional Experience 4: Transition into the Profession will be completed over a five-week block placement and no negotiation on this requirement is possible, as there are formal Teacher Registration classroom contact time requirements that must be met.
Please familiarise yourself with the Transition into the Profession Handbook; this contains a wealth of information about your Internship and should answer many of the questions you may have.
Master of Teaching (ECE) PE Handbook
Master of Teaching (Primary) PE Handbook
Master of Teaching (Secondary) PE Handbook
Supervision of MTC610 Professional Experience 4: Transition into the Profession is managed at the school level, and there will be a final interview that will involve Curtin University staff.
Completion of final units
Enrolment in MTC610 Professional Experience 4: Transition into the Profession cannot commence until the final study period of your course.
Students who complete MTC610 Professional Experience 4: Transition into the Profession in Study Period 1 (Term 2) may be eligible for graduation in September. To be eligible for the Sydney graduation (May) students would need to have completed the course the year before. Please refer to the graduation website.
Considering taking PE4 Transition into the Profession in SP4?
An enrolment in SP4/Term 1 will NOT be appropriate for most students as it is more difficult to secure a school for a placement at the beginning of school Term 1.
Any student considering enrolling in MTC610 in Study Period 4, MUST be aware of the following:
- You must make four familiarisation and planning visits to the school prior to your 5 week placement.
- You cannot begin these visits until you are enrolled in the unit and the SP commences.
- This means students will only have approximately three weeks to undertake pre-visits in Term 4 and many schools and teachers will not welcome this at that time of the school year. It is important to complete some pre-visits in Term 4 to help with planning for your AfGT.
- You will then have a long holiday break with no contact, followed by an expectation that you begin your placement early in Term 1 – again, this can be difficult for schools and teachers to manage. You cannot expect a mentor teacher to be available to you during the summer holiday break.
- Your 5-week placement will occur in Term 1 of the following year. This means the SP will run for an extended time, longer than the standard 13 weeks.
Therefore, this option will not suit standard circumstances and is only provided to avoid undue delay for certain students who are in particular positions.
You will be subject to the usual clearance processes that are managed by administration and these will occur in the usual way. This involves checking that you will have completed all units prior to your Internship, have applied for any CRL that is applicable for Electives, and that you have passed the mandatory literacy and numeracy tests.
What year level for Early Childhood or Primary?
Early Childhood Education
Primary Education
Primary students need to complete their Internship in a different year level to previous school experiences, e.g., if you have completed Year 1 and Year 3 you will need to complete an upper year level.
Students must have completed all year levels: junior (Y1-2), middle (Y3-4) and upper (Y5-6) primary to satisfy all States’ requirements for teacher registration.
How do I approach a school?
*For students outside of WA only
Please follow the Guidelines for Contacting Schools and take a copy of the Introductory Letter and the Professional Experience Handbook, to any introductory meetings:
Guidelines for Contacting Schools
Master of Teaching (ECE) PE Handbook
Master of Teaching (Primary) PE Handbook
What is the AfGT?
All accredited Initial Teacher Education programs in Australia are required to administer a final-year Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) to students, which must be passed to be eligible for graduation as a teacher.
Curtin University is a member of a consortium of universities which developed and uses the TPA known as the The Assessment for Graduate Teaching (AfGT).
The AfGT is a culminating assessment designed to be undertaken in the classroom environment during the final professional experience placement. Its purpose is to evaluate each pre-service teacher’s teaching, professional decision-making, and impact on student learning in a real-life context.
Who do I contact for support during PE?
For PE administration queries please contact the Curtin School of Education OUA PE Team (professional.experience@curtin.edu.au) using this email template.
For PE Academic queries please contact your Tutor, Unit Coordinator, or Course Coordinator.
Curtin Connect: your Curtin hub for general student service, support and advice
When do I get my final grade?
Once your final results have been sent for processing, it may take 1-10 days before they are visible in eStudent under the “my results” tab after the official results are released for your study period. The 1-10 day time frame is due to your grade being processed through the Faculty office and then through Student Central.
Please do not order an academic transcript before your results have been officially published, as completion of the internship unit will not have been recorded and you will then need to order another official transcript which will incur a small fee.
Please note – before your results can be submitted for processing, the below actions are required:
- mentor and supervisor final reports and grade slips must be submitted to the university
- you have a pass on the AfGT.
How do I get my academic transcript?
If you are attending a graduation and have registered for this, you will receive your official award and transcript on this day.
If you are not attending a graduation and have registered to have your award sent to you, you will receive in the mail your official award and transcript shortly after the designated graduation day.
For teacher registration purposes you can purchase official documentation.
What about graduation?
The Curtin Graduations Website will provide you with the step by step guide for preparing for graduation.