Education MA
24 Months Part-Time | September Start

On this programme you will be able to select a bespoke combination of taught modules and a dissertation topic of your choice in line with your professional or personal interests.

You will study current educational issues and examine key features of practices in educational systems. We will encourage you to become an independent learner, able to critically reflect on your own experience and apply what you have learned to your own organisation.

You will learn through lectures, seminars and group discussion. You will develop a critical understanding of the relationships between research, policy and practice and how they are applied to different settings. You will use work-based learning to tailor the course to suit your own specialist area of practice.

You will be assessed through a variety of approaches including assignments, presentations, portfolios and reports. All tasks will be clearly explained in advance and assessment criteria, grade descriptors and marking schemes will be available for every assignment and thoroughly discussed in class. You will not sit any exams.

The staff who lead the modules on this course are all passionate about their subject. They are qualified teachers and practitioners, with substantial experience across the whole of the education sector. We endeavour to ensure not only strong academic, but also strong pastoral support to all of our students.

You will learn from our exceptional team of warm and supportive staff who use their active research to inform their theory, meaning that your studies remain current and informed by contemporary issues.

We are extremely proud of our team and consider that it is our unwavering student support which really sets us apart from the rest.

Throughout the course you will be supported by your guidance tutor, the programme leader, and each of your module tutors. You can rely upon constant and consistent mentoring from your tutor with both personal and professional issues.

We ensure that our support services are always accessible and offer strong pastoral support to every student that wants it.

You will receive support and supervision during your dissertation project, when we will match you with a tutor who specialises in your area of interest. This will allow you to draw on their relevant knowledge and expertise.

The education team are dedicated to developing their own learning and research, and are frequently published in education journals.

We also have an ITE (Initial teacher education) team who are able to offer guidance on employment within the education sector. This a team run by staff who are teacher educators, operating in roles such as training teachers to work in schools.

At our base on Coach Lane Campus you will benefit from modern teaching facilities. You will also enjoy being immersed in an environment which is dedicated to the study of education.

This environment gives you the opportunity to reflect on your learning and discuss your findings with your peers, many of whom are from similar work backgrounds and working towards the same career goals.

Technology-enhanced learning is used extensively across the course and each module will have its own e-learning area. This helps us to share learning materials with you in a flexible way and allows you to revisit learning materials in your own time. It also enables you to have online discussions with your fellow students to develop ideas.

You will be equipped with the ability to challenge your personal and professional development, applying planning tools and career advice through the UseMYAbility website.

If you are an international student you can also benefit from the support of our Academic Language Skills Programmes (ALS). The programmes will run alongside your studies to help you develop your academic language and communication skills within an Education context.

Research-rich learning is embedded into every aspect of our postgraduate Education courses. We have designed the courses to equip you with critical and independent enquiry skills that will last a lifetime.

You will develop skills in collaborative working, discipline-specific creativity and project management. You will be encouraged to examine, compare and contrast different world views. You will examine key education theories and concepts, and enrich your understanding of these through critical discussion with your peers, colleagues and lecturers.

All of this will feed into your own independent research project towards the end of the course, during which you can draw on our lecturers’ wide-ranging expertise.

Our academic staff have extensive research experience in all areas of education, from early years and schools to post-compulsory and higher education. Our areas of research strength include school-to-school networking and collaboration, educational leadership, curriculum innovation, and the impact of educational initiatives on marginalised and vulnerable groups.

This programme is designed to cater for a wide range of professionals in education and will offer you a great launch pad for the next step in your career. The flexibility to choose from such a wide variety of modules mean you can prepare for the exact role you want.

You will graduate with knowledge of the very latest in education research, policy and practice. You will gain a whole new perspective on data and evaluation, all of which will help to put you at the forefront of your field. You will also be able to reflect upon and challenge your own practice, which is a valuable skill to demonstrate to future employers.

You will leave the course confident in your knowledge and abilities, empowered to make change in your own organisation and ready to go to the next level in your career.