ESTA Postgraduate certificate – Woodwind
About the course
The ESTA Education Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Practical Teaching is a master’s-level (Level 7) qualification designed for instrumental and vocal teachers who wish to deepen their understanding of how people learn music and to enhance their own professional practice.
Delivered in partnership with the University of Chichester, the course provides a structured, research-informed pathway for teachers seeking formal recognition of their skills and experience. Study takes place mainly online, supported by one-to-one mentoring, webinars, and collaborative discussion, with a compulsory one-week residential summer school at the University of Chichester.
Who is this course for?
This programme is ideal for teachers who:
- Already teach an instrument or voice and wish to reflect critically on their own practice.
- Seek a validated postgraduate qualification to support career progression or further study (e.g. ESTA MA in Practical Teaching)
- Wish to combine flexible online study with a vibrant community of peers and mentors.
- Are committed to developing an investigative, reflective, and research-informed approach to their teaching.
Applicants typically include studio teachers, peripatetic teachers, ensemble directors, and community musicians working across age groups and contexts.
Course content
The PG Cert comprises four core units (each 15 credits at Level 7, total 60 credits). All units are compulsory and are supported by an additional short, non-credit-bearing element covering safeguarding, equality & diversity, and promoting positive behaviour.
Study is part-time over 10 months (August – June). Most teaching takes place online, supported by individual tutorials and mentor-led study groups. The one-week residential provides intensive, practical training and peer exchange.
Course content by unit
Unit 1:
Teaching woodwind instrument technique to children and young people learning woodwind instruments
- Posture and supporting the instrument
- Warm-ups: without and with the instrument; mental and physical
- Understanding the instrument – understanding sound
- Making the sound: the journey of a breath
- Refining and developing tone quality
- Controlling intonation
- Articulation: techniques and styles
- Finger-work and dexterity
- Advanced techniques – harmonics, bending notes, glissando, flutter tonguing, multi-phonics, micro tones
Unit 2:
How children and young people learn to play woodwind instruments
- How learners learn
- Simultaneous Learning
- My learners now
- Understanding, assimilating and consolidating
- Skills, knowledge and understanding
- Learning music musically
- Developing aural awareness/perception and acuity
- Pupil/teacher relationships
- Learning scales and studies
- Starting a lesson
Unit 3:
Teaching strategies for woodwind teachers working with children and young people
- Understanding my teaching now
- Preparation for teaching
- Expectation of teaching outcomes
- Diagnosis of learners’ needs
- Audio-Visual-Kinaesthetic learning
- Aptitude for learning
- Motivation for learning
- Simultaneous learning
- Assessment
- Exams/Festivals/Competitions
- Tutors/methods
- Teaching whole classes/small groups/individuals
Unit 4:
Developing a woodwind teaching curriculum for children and young people
- Understanding what is meant by a curriculum and a syllabus
- Preparing and implementing schemes of work
- Short/medium and long term planning
- Personalising learning
- Becoming a reflective practitioner
- Communicating as a musician
- Playing and performing
- Chamber music
- Special Needs
- Schools of woodwind playing
- Alexander Technique
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of music teaching and learning processes.
- Apply reflective and research-based approaches to improve your teaching.
- Plan, deliver, and evaluate effective learning for students at different stages.
- Communicate clearly and professionally with learners, parents, and colleagues.
- Design curricula and materials that respond to individual learners’ needs.
- Act autonomously in planning and implementing teaching at a professional level.
Successful completion leads to the award of Postgraduate Certificate in Woodwind Teaching by the University of Chichester.
Who teaches the course
Heads of Department – Woodwind
Paul has established an international reputation as a musician and educationalist. As a pupil of John Davies at the Royal Academy of Music (where he now teaches), he won the August Manns Prize for outstanding performance in clarinet playing.
He regularly presents workshops, seminars, recitals and masterclasses in the UK, the USA, Denmark, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Among his performances include the Mozart, Finzi, Spohr, and Weber concertos; many recitals and performances of various chambers works including most of the clarinet quintets, the Kegellstadt innumerable times with violist Robert Secret, the two Krommer Double Concertos with Jean Cockburn, and he regularly plays in a woodwind, two clarinets and piano ensemble.
He has given first performances of various Malcolm Arnold works including the re-discovered Wind Quintet Op.2 and he has contributed to a CD recording of works by lesser-known British composers. The clarinet prodigy Julian Bliss was a pupil. He has been a judge for the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the Classic FM’s teacher of the year and he works regularly with NYWO and NCCO as their woodwind tutor.
He is presently writing a new book on clarinet playing. His books on education (which include two clarinet tutors, a variety of works from short solo pieces to concertos and a ballet, and other books that deal primarily with stimulating and helping young players to develop their musical skills) have won awards.
Paul’s innovative teaching methods and (over six hundred) books have found support all over the world and combine thoroughness, imagination and practicality, the defining qualities of his outstandingly successful work.
Teaching and assessment
Learning takes place through:
- One-to-one mentoring and tutorials
- Online seminars and discussion forums
- Independent reading and reflective study
- Residential workshops and peer presentations
Assessment
Assessment is by written assignments, videoed lessons, presentations, and curriculum design projects – all focused on your own professional practice. There are no written exams.
Progression routes
PG Cert Graduates are eligible to advance to the MA ESTA MA in Practical Teaching. The PG Cert forms the first 60 credits of the full MA pathway.
Entry requirements
Applicants should normally hold:
- An undergraduate degree in music or a related subject OR
- Equivalent professional experience as a teacher or performer.
You must be currently teaching (or able to access learners for teaching observation and video assignments). Reliable internet access and the ability to record video are essential.
Course fees
- £4,250 UK resident
- £6,250 Overseas Resident
*Fees include full board and accommodation at the ESTA Summer School.
** Travel costs from the student’s location to Chichester are not included in the course fee.
*** The summer school is a mandatory element of the course.
Applications are open for the August 2026 intake. To apply, please complete the online application form and upload:
Applicants will be invited to an informal online interview.