Our flexible modular programme enables you to design your course according to your particular areas of interest. The course will draw on your intellectual and practice background. As well as provide opportunities to network with others.

You'll grow in professional knowledge and expertise. We will support you to improve and develop your professional organisation through:

critical enquiry
reflection
the promotion of creative and innovative practice.

The School of Education is a focal point for stimulating and informed debate on education through a programmes of seminars, lectures and school work. We work in close partnership in a range of educational settings and services. This means we can provide opportunities for placements as part of your studies. For example, carrying out commissioned work as part of your dissertation study.

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
QTS (Qualified Teacher Status), other equivalent 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 or Postgraduate Certificates 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

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 £1000 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

Apply now

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note

2020/21

Home/EU full time

£6,500

Home/EU part time

£725 per single module

Home/EU distance learning

£725 per single module

International full time

£14,200

International distance learning

£1,580 per single module

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 483088

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Tuition fees

2020/21

Home/EU full time

£6,500

Home/EU part time

£725 per single module

Home/EU distance learning

£725 per single module

International full time

£14,200

International distance learning

£1,580 per single module

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 483088

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.

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

Financial support and scholarships

There are International Student Scholarships available for 2020 and other scholarships and funding options for postgraduate international students.

For general sources of financial support, see our Fees and funding pages.

Learning and assessment

The MA Education follows a flexible modular programme. The 'open route' through this MA enables you to design your course according to your particular areas of interest.

You will need to achieve nine modules over the course of your studies. These include:

Compulsory modules (total 80 credits)

Researching Methods (20 credits) will support your studies and prepare you for your dissertation
Dissertation (60 credits).

Optional modules (total 100 credits)

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

Alternatively, six named routes give a specialist focus to the award as follows:

Study modules

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

Research Methods (20 credits)

In this module you develop knowledge of a range of research approaches, methods and techniques and consider ethics in education research. You have an opportunity to develop your own research skills through preparatory work for your dissertation study.

Optional modules

Developing MA Literacies (20 credits)

The module aims to prepare students to develop the critical and reflective skills to participate confidently in their academic community as a researcher-practitioner. It will support you in developing the academic writing and critical reading skills to engage successfully in MA level study.

Learning and Development in Childhood (20 credits)

Through this unit of study, students will explore contemporary theories of social and cognitive development and their implications for children's formal and informal learning. Alternative explanations of developmental processes will be discussed drawing upon research evidence and students own observations from a range of settings. Students will reflect on the impact of the social and cultural contexts of development and learning and interrogate the cultural assumptions of developmental models. From a sharing of these individual enquiries, the group will reflect on the implications of their findings for the experiences and opportunities provided for young children.

Diversity and Achievement (20 credits)

This module will analyse the factors that are predictive of educational success and failure for children and young people, exploring the implications of this analysis for school policy and practice. These factors will be considered at the level of the individual child, the family, the school and the neighbourhood, using data from case study material and drawing in part on students’ individual working contexts. Issues of class, gender, disability and ethnicity will be considered. This analysis at the level of an individual in a particular locality will be compared to educational outcomes from national and international data sources.

Mind and Brain

This module explores previous and present developments within the field of educational neuroscience. The module will begin by exploring developmental changes that occur throughout the lifespan. Current insights from the field of cognitive neuroscience will be explored in relation to a number of specific educational issues which have implications for educational practice. The module will engage with philosophical exploration and deliberation over the relationship between mind, brain, self and body.

The Inclusive Curriculum (20 credits)

This module, relevant for primary, secondary, and further and higher education practitioners and students, explores key aspects of curriculum design and delivery in relation to access, equality of learning opportunity and inclusion. There will be a particular focus on the ways in which cultural values influence curriculum content and organization. You will have an opportunity to critically engage with theories of internationalising and decolonising the curriculum.

Leading and Managing People in Education (20 credits)

This module brings together a range of themes and concerns in the management of staff in educational organisations. Drawing on national and international examples, it combines theoretical perspectives with practical concerns about staff management and development.

Leading Change in Education (20 credits)

This module builds on the experience of course members as observers of, and participants in, the management of change in the education sector. Drawing on national and international examples, it combines theoretical perspectives with practical concerns about organisational transformation in education.

Children’s Literature Through the Ages (20 credits)

This module aims to develop students' understanding of the ways in which societal constructs of childhood can be manifest in texts for children, for example: children at war, children at school. It will explore a range of texts available in the 21st century including comics, novels in verse form, literature in translation and interactive texts. Classic texts for children will be explored, as will traditional tales through texts ranging from Grimm to Disney. Ideology in children's books will be explored.

Reading for Pleasure in the Primary Classroom (20 credits)

This module aims to develop students' understanding of the 2014 National Curriculum, particularly in relation to 'Reading for Pleasure'. It aims to develop understanding of how texts are constructed using a range of narrative modes. The module will draw on current research on reading for pleasure and will be grounded in using reader response theory as a guiding principle. Throughout the module, implications for teaching writing will also be considered. Students will have the opportunity for practical work and for developing partnerships with outside agencies.

Multilingual Learners (20 credits)

This module focuses on children in English-speaking schools, whose first language is not English. It aims to draw on current practice, research, case studies, websites and professional networks, enabling students to:

Analyse the development of children in second languages settings: case study analysis
Identify theories of bilingualism, translanguaging and dynamic language
Appreciate the links between first and second language, identity and self-esteem: the emotional experiences of the EAL child
Evaluate teacher, teacher assistant, parent, and whole school responses to the EAL child
Theorise practice and pedagogy: what beliefs, theories and attitudes to language and the EAL learner underpin teacher choices?
Evaluate and critically compare policies connected with the teaching, learning and integration of the EAL child into the mainstream school
Evaluate, adapt and create resources and materials for their fit with the needs of the EAL child

Independent Study: Investigating Practice (20 credits)

This module offers you opportunity to engage in independent study of a topic, issue or area that is not available elsewhere within the course. You will, in consultation and negotiation with a tutor, identify a topic, issue or area of personal or professional interest and relevance and then draw up a course of independent study, which may include library and practical research. The project can be assessed through either a report or a portfolio of work. This might include the development of pedagogical approaches or curriculum materials or investigations into the achievement levels, or the opportunities provided, for particular groups of learners. It could also include the development of professional practice through shadowing others or engaging in collaborative work across organisations.

Final project

Compulsory modules

Dissertation (60 credits)

Your Dissertation will involve a piece of investigative research and will comprise approximately one third of your degree work. Your dissertation will focus on a research problem of interest to you. It need not be based in an educational setting and may be literature based but should be relevant to educational concerns and the specific subject area on named pathways. (compulsory for all students) September to September.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from that 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 over eight weeks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays at 17:00 – 20:00.
Full-time on campus – the main study day is Thursdays with students also joining part-time students in evening modules
Distance learning - an MA Education can be achieved by part-time 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 2 to 3 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 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

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

Adam Donalson

"Brookes was one of the few universities to offer the MA in Education that specialised in leadership and management"