Education

MA

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Key facts

Start dates

September 2025 / September 2026

Course length

Full time: One year - on campus or distance learning

Part time: Two years - on campus or distance learning

Overview

Take your career to the next level with an MA in Education. In this course, you’ll develop advanced practitioner skills that you can apply across educational settings. You’ll also be free to explore your specific professional interests in depth by choosing to complete a named dissertation in your specialism.

You’ll enjoy a flexible learning environment, based around the school term, including:

  • Saturday workshops during term time
  • consideration for the work patterns in the education sector
  • a range of digital resources and distance learning tools
  • the ability to mix distance learning with in person classes.

You’ll join a vibrant learning community of experienced and passionate professionals. You'll discuss and share case studies and debate key topics in education with opportunities to network and learn from each other, while sharing your own expertise.

Throughout your studies you'll grow as a leader and expert practitioner and you'll finish the course ready to influence change or lead best practice in your workplace.
 

How to apply

Entry requirements

Specific entry requirements

This MA course attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities, who are graduates with a recognised teaching qualification, or other relevant educational experience.

Applicants normally have:

  • a good honours degree
  • other education based professional qualification or relevant experience.

Entry with credit

Credit can be made up of appropriate work completed outside the course, for example, M level credit from PGCE awards, Postgraduate Certificates or Postgraduate Diplomas in relevant educational courses.

Please also see the University's general entry requirements.

English language requirements

Candidates whose first language is not English should be able to demonstrate a satisfactory level of spoken and written English.

  • IELTS level 6.5 or above with a minimum of 6.0 in reading and writing and 5.5 in speaking and listening.

Please also see the University's standard English language requirements.

International qualifications and equivalences

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English requirements for visas

If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.

International applications

International students hold a conditional offer until payment of a deposit of £3,000 is received.

Pathways courses for international and EU students

We offer a range of courses to help you meet the entry requirements for your postgraduate course and also familiarise you with university life in the UK.

Take a Pre-Master's course to develop your subject knowledge, study skills and academic language level in preparation for your master's course.

If you need to improve your English language, we offer pre-sessional English language courses to help you meet the English language requirements of your chosen master’s course.

Terms and Conditions of Enrolment

When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.

Application process

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£8,800

Home (UK) part time
£980 per single module

Home (UK) distance learning
£980 per single module

International full time
£16,100

International distance learning
£1,850 per single module

Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,030 per single module

Home (UK) distance learning
£1,030 per single module

International full time
£16,750

International distance learning
£ 1,860 per single module

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
£8,800

Home (UK) part time
£980 per single module

Home (UK) distance learning
£980 per single module

International full time
£16,100

International distance learning
£1,850 per single module

2025 / 26
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,030 per single module

Home (UK) distance learning
£1,030 per single module

International full time
£16,750

International distance learning
£ 1,860 per single module

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year, your fees will increase each year.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support.

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Funding your studies

Financial support and scholarships

Featured funding opportunities available for this course.

All financial support and scholarships

View all funding opportunities for this course

Learning and assessment

The MA Education follows a flexible programme with the option of learning by distance or in-person. This flexible approach means you can design the course completely around your interests.

You'll need to achieve 180 credits including:

Compulsory modules (total 90 credits)

  • Research in Education (30 credits) will support your studies and prepare you for your dissertation
  • Dissertation (60 credits).

Optional modules (total 90 credits)

You can choose three modules from the optional modules listed below.

We work in close partnership with a range of educational settings and services. And we can support you in accessing a placement as part of your studies. For example, you might carry out commissioned work as part of your dissertation.
 

Group of students walking

Study modules

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

  • Research In Education

    You’ll develop your knowledge of research approaches, methods and techniques for the study of children and childhood, education and language. You’ll explore the interdisciplinary nature of work in and across these areas. After taking this module, you’ll be well prepared for the methodological aspects of your dissertation.

Optional modules

Dilemmas in Education

Education is a contested and continuously reviewed field. In this module, you'll explore a range of controversial issues and dilemmas that impact the education sector. There'll be opportunities, through group discussion and extended individual research, for you to explore and debate issues in some depth. 

Students will also lead some seminars to facilitate a detailed consideration of relevant issues from a range of perspectives. You will be encouraged to evaluate ideas and evidence in different forms, including popular media and policy texts, as well as more traditional academic texts.

Sustainability in Education

You'll explore concepts that inform sustainable learning environments and cultures from a range of perspectives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals of:

  • international development
  • well-being
  • social justice
  • gender equality
  • safety
  • equitable access to education.

There will be opportunities to explore the role of leadership and management in addition to:

  • coaching and mentoring in developing a sustainable workforce
  • digital technology to support sustainable pedagogies and working practices
  •  environmental art practices. 

Pedagogies that support sustainable education, curriculum planning will be considered, as well as practices that support sustainable learning environments.

Creative Education

This module offers an opportunity to explore a range of innovative and creative approaches including:

  • critical, transformative and compassionate pedagogies
  • risk taking and embracing uncertainty within safe environments 
  • the use of head, heart and hand
  • communities of practice and communities of care.

Together we'll evaluate topics like:

  • the positioning and value of the arts in the curriculum
  • the relevance of the arts in supporting democracy and societies
  • the arts as social texts; sense and meaning making through creative practices
  • informal learning through creative practices for example, community arts, museums and galleries, the arts in hospitals.

 

Education in a Digital World

You'll delve into learning theories and pedagogies that inform the effective use of digital technology to support learning. This includes exploring how digital technology can be harnessed to support access to learning for a range of learners, as well as how learning analytics and Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be harnessed to manage and monitor learning to improve achievement. 

There'll be opportunites to critically evaluate established and emerging debates about the use of digital technology in education.

 

Developing an Inclusive Curriculum

You'll explore curriculum theory, policy, and lived experiences to understand how these inform curriculum design and embodiment, as well as the value of representation and diversity in the curriculum. Through this process, students will develop an understanding of the complexities of developing and implementing a range of inclusive learning environments.

Leading Change in Education

You will explore, from national and international viewpoints, both theoretical perspectives and practical concerns about organisational transformation in education. Together we'll consider change at the macro, meso and micro levels and how educational policy impacts change. and, in turn, how leadership impacts improvement, accountability and strategic planning to support effective change.

This module will help you develop a greater understanding of educational leadership, it's impact on individuals and institutions and the role of motivation, resilience and the assurance of equity.

Alternative Perspectives on Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and Inclusion (SENDI)

You'll examine inter-disciplinary and critical perspectives on Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and Inclusion (SENDI) through the lenses of history, sociology, philosophy and psychology. 

Some of the topics we'll explore together include: 

  • the impact of national and international policy on the provision for individuals with SEND
  • the ethical considerations related to SENDI
  • critical perspectives and construction of SENDI including contemporary issues such as social justice and the Neurodiversity movement
  • lived experiences of those with SEND, their carers and professionals.

Mental health and compassionate pedagogy in Education

You will draw on the four foundational disciplines of history, sociology, philosophy and psychology to explore the prevalence of Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and a range of relevant lived experiences. 

You'll consider policies that impact the education of those experiencing SEMH concerns and the theories that inform our understanding of these issues. The role of professionals supporting those with SEMH to meet their academic potential and the institutions within which they work will also be examined. 

The module will include an overarching consideration of the perspectives of promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

 

Childhood and Youth

You'll take a holistic approach to considering the lives of children and young people, considering the context of educational/learning settings within or outside of school and how families, politics, and cultures may impact this. 

There will be opportunities to explore a wide range of young people's circumstances, for example:

  • hospitalisation and chronic physical and mental conditions
  • young carers
  • looked after children
  • asylum seekers and refugees
  • multilingualism
  • neurodiversity.

Educational Environments

You will have the opportunity to explore a range of approaches and environments that offer and support learning for children and adults such as forest schools, outdoor learning, inclusive provision, community projects and festivals, home-schooling, museums and galleries, and virtual schools. 

Students will consider a range of creative pedagogies that can support effective learning in non-traditional learning spaces and the potential impact that these may have on learners.

Independent Study

This module provides an opportunity for you to engage in independent study of an approved topic conducted under supervision and with the prior approval of the programme team. 

Final project

Compulsory modules

  • Dissertation

    You’ll carry out a sustained piece of educational research. You’ll analyse and report your findings at a high critical level, justifying and supporting them with detailed reference to relevant theories and concepts. This will comprise one third of the work for your degree.  

    If you have the relevant professional experience and your completed assignments reflect the relevant specific professional knowledge you can choose one of the following named dissertations where you focus on a research problem of particular interest. This will be reflected in your transcript: 

    • Leadership and Management
    • SENDi
    • SEMH
    • Childhood and Youth
    • Children’s Literature in Education
    • Education in a Digital World
    • Creative Pedagogies
    • International Education.

    If you’re working on a project, you’ll undertake a shorter piece of independent investigative or literature-based research. You’ll also produce a creative piece or artefact.

     

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Learning and teaching

Teaching, learning and assessment draw on the different backgrounds, experience and knowledge of students. It also encourages critical reflection.

We use a range of teaching methods, including:

  • lectures
  • directed reading
  • workshops
  • discussion forums
  • student and staff-led seminars
  • project work.

Teaching is organised on a modular basis, each module involves approximately 24 hours of staff contact as follows:

  • Part-time on campus – Modules are usually taught on a Saturday a month between 9.30am and 4.30pm.
  • Full-time on campus – Modules are usually taught on two Saturdays a month between 9.30am and 4.30pm
  • Distance learning - an MA Education can be achieved by online learning through the use of our Moodle platform. For each module this usually requires about 12 hours a week plus time spent on assessment. The online route is usually taken part-time over two to three years.

Assessment

Assessment methods used on this course

You will be assessed for each course module separately. Assessment is coursework based, and includes:

  • individual essays
  • seminar presentations
  • reports
  • portfolios
  • investigative research
  • group work.

Research

The School of Education, Humanities and Languages is a thriving centre for educational research and teacher professional development. Students on master's level programmes therefore join a large research community comprising researchers at all levels of higher education study.

We hold two major research conferences each year - the School of Education Research Conference and the EdD Colloquium. All students are invited to attend our annual Research Seminar Series (which attracts both internal and external speakers). We also organise a number of conferences, lectures, seminars and debates, some of which have an international reach.

The School's six research groups exist to encourage engagement in research, publication, conference presentations, seminars and workshops:

  • Inclusion and Wellbeing
  • Policy, Partnership and Leadership
  • STEAM pedagogy and learning
  • Humanistic Perspectives on Education
  • Early Years
  • Applied Linguistics

View all staff profiles for School of Education, Humanities and Languages

Student researching on a laptop

After you graduate

Career prospects

Completion of the course shows commitment to professional development and should lead to improved prospects for career progression.

Student profiles

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.