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Education Studies

BA (Hons)

Key facts
Overview
How to apply
Tuition fees
Learning and assessment
Study Abroad
After you graduate
Student profiles
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Key facts

UCAS code

X301

Start dates

September 2019 / September 2020

Location

Harcourt Hill

Course length

Full time: 3 years

Part time: up to 6 years

Department

School of Education

UCAS Tariff Points

104

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Overview

Our Education Studies degree is a rewarding and challenging course. You’ll study child and adolescent development, specifically around inclusion and educational inequalities.

You’ll question why governments change education policy, and look at how education is portrayed in popular culture.

In your second year you can choose an innovative pathway  Education Studies: SEN, Disabilities and Inclusion (SENDI) This covers the experiences of children and young people who can find themselves marginalised or excluded from traditional Educational settings.

You will gain extensive knowledge about the role of education in contemporary society, and areas such as:

  • education
  • psychology
  • gender
  • 21st-century education
  • special educational needs and disabilities
  • children’s literature.

This degree prepares you for many careers including:

  • teaching
  • youth work
  • educational psychology
  • social work
  • therapeutic support
  • policy provision
  • educational publishing.
Students sitting in the John Henry Brookes Building

How to apply

Typical offers

UCAS Tariff Points: 104

A Level: BCC

IB Points: 29

BTEC: DMM

Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. This combination of A-level grades would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.

If you accept a Conditional offer to this course as your Firm choice through UCAS, and the offer does not include a requirement to pass an English language test or improve your English language, we may be able to make the offer Unconditional. Please check your offer carefully where this will be confirmed for each applicant.

For combined honours, normally the offer will lie between the offers quoted for each subject.

Applications are also welcomed for consideration from applicants with European qualifications, international qualifications or recognised foundation courses. For advice on eligibility please contact Admissions: admissions@brookes.ac.uk

Entry requirements

Specific entry requirements

GCSE: English Language at grade 4 or above

Please also see the University's general entry requirements.

English language requirements

Please 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.

Pathways courses for international and EU students

If you do not meet the entry requirements for this degree, or if you would like more preparation before you start, you can take an international foundation course. Once you enrol, you will have a guaranteed pathway to this degree if you pass your foundation course with the required grades.

If you only need to meet the language requirements, you can take our pre-sessional English course. You will develop key language and study skills for academic success and you will not need to take an external language test to progress to your degree.

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.

Credit transfer

Many of our courses consider applications for entry with credit for prior learning. Each application is individually assessed by our credit entry tutors. 

If you would like more information about whether or not you may be eligible for the award of credit, for example from an HND, partly-completed degree or foundation degree, please contact our Admissions team.

We operate the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). All undergraduate single modules are equivalent to 7.5 ECTS credits and double modules to 15 ECTS credits. More about ECTS credits.

Application process

Full time Home / EU applicants

Apply through UCAS

Part time Home / EU applicants

Apply direct to the University

International applicants

Apply direct to the University

Full time applicants can also apply through UCAS

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home/EU full time
£9,250
Home/EU part time
£750 per single module
International full time
£13,410
Home/EU full time
£9,250 (subject to agreement by Office for Students)
Home/EU part time
£1,155 per single module
International full time
£13,900

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Tuition fees

2019/20
Home/EU full time
£9,250
Home/EU part time
£750 per single module
International full time
£13,410
2020/21
Home/EU full time
£9,250 (subject to agreement by Office for Students)
Home/EU part time
£1,155 per single module
International full time
£13,900

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:
+44 (0)1865 483088
financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Please note tuition fees for Home/EU students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning home and EU students at the maximum permitted level.

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

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

Additional costs

We do not expect students to purchase any compulsory course books, as they are all available in the library. If students wish to purchase additional books to supplement their reading, this is at their own discretion.

Learning and assessment

The course is underpinned by the four academic 'foundational disciplines':

  • Philosophy
  • Psychology
  • History
  • Social Sciences.

Throughout the course you will take compulsory modules. You will also choose from a range of optional modules.

In Year 1 the compulsory modules introduce you to core ideas and themes that you will carry through this course. They include:

  • Introduction to the Study of Education
  • Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development
  • Key Ideas in Education.

In Year 2 compulsory modules include:

  • Psychology and Education
  • Research Methods in Childhood and Education
  • The Social World of Childhood and Youth
  • Educational Inequalities

Or

  • Core Texts in Education.

In Year 3 compulsory modules include:

  • Controversial and Contemporary Research in Education
  • a dissertation based on your research interests.
Student sat down at a table using a laptop

Study modules

Year 1

Compulsory modules

Introduction to the Study of Education (compulsory single and combined honours)

This encourages you to reflect on your own position as a student in higher education. You will explore different learning approaches, strategies and styles. You will learn key skills for the academic study of education

Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development (compulsory single and combined honours)

You will have the opportunity to examine understandings of notions of development and the ways in which developmental issues both underpin, and impact upon, children's learning.

Key Ideas in Education (compulsory single and combined honours)

Introducing significant ideas and concepts in schooling, higher education and lifelong learning - including the place of provision for leaners with additional needs - that continue to resonate in contemporary educational debate. You will scrutinise these ideas from a theoretical perspective and take a critical stance on contemporary educational policies and positions. A particular focus will be the consideration of educational 'alternatives' - education at home or at school, progressive or traditional, organised in terms of knowledge disciplines or aims, through an implicit or explicit curriculum, and so on. This will enable you to bring your own educational experience into question and offer a theoretically informed evaluation of familiar educational situations and practices.

Optional modules

Education in a World of Change: Policy and Provision (recommended single honours)

It will introduce you to central aspects of education policy and provision in the English context. Schooling will be related to broader forces of social change, including economic, cultural, technological and political. There will be focus on formal education but alternative educational settings will be considered. You will be introduced to some of the major philosophical ideas that have shaped educational policy in England and encouraged to make connections between central themes from the late 19th/ early 20th centuries and policy developments in the present day. You will be introduced to the study of the history and philosophy of education and to policy critique. Constructions of Childhood (recommended single and combined honours) shows how childhood is thought of differently, and how this has changed, over time and place. It draws on sociological, historical and cross-cultural perspectives to look at childhood in different contexts, and the role of children in society.

Education, Childhood and Youth Culture: Film and Literature (recommended single and combined honours)

You will explore the way schools, teachers and their students are represented in popular culture, specifically in selected key film and television texts and literary works. The module will examine educational themes which recur and the way they reflect contemporary debates about the purpose of education, childhood, youth culture and teacher role/ performance. Does popular culture embody alternative perspectives of education and its societal role, or does it tend to reproduce common stereotypes and popular myths? How can we explain the enduring popularity of reliving school days through fictional books and moving image texts?

Language Acquisition (recommended single and combined honours)

An introduction to the study of how we acquire language from the early processing of language and how we may learn more than one language. It seeks to familiarise students with the major debates in the field of language acquisition and development. You will develop your understanding of the linguistic evidence used to develop theories of language acquisition and development. We will look at models of language and language acquisition and how to analyse developing language accurately and offer rational explanations for its key features.

Year 2

Compulsory modules

Core Texts in Education (alternative compulsory single and combined honours)

A number of classic writers from Plato to Paulo Freire are essential to understanding contemporary debates about education. This module enables an in-depth critical study of three contrasting and complementary texts from different historical periods that have shaped the language and concepts with which we think about education and childhood. Your reading of these texts will be informed by historical context and their reception in contemporary educational literature. You will be encouraged to engage with questions the texts raise about the status of knowledge, the nature of human flourishing, and the vocation of the educator. You will need to connect and compare the texts with each other and with key contemporary debates in educational policy and practice. You will ask questions about the legacy of our intellectual inheritance and the lessons that we can learn from the thinkers of the past.

Educational Inequalities (compulsory for single and combined honours)

Investigates the relationship between formal education processes and outcomes and wider social processes and structures. It considers contesting visions of equality in educational debates, and how these are manifested in policy. It will examine the relationships between identity, school and wider cultures, the subjectivities of learners, and consequent experiences of education.

Psychology and Education (compulsory for single and combined honours)

The views of major psychological theorists will be examined together with the application of these views to human learning across the age span. The module will look at the learner in context, examining aspects of the learning environment as well as factors such as motivation and different types of intelligence. Critical consideration will also be given to teaching and learning styles and the importance of self-esteem in the learning process.

Research Methods in Childhood and Education (compulsory for single honours, acceptable for combined honours)

Introduces you to various research tools (interviewing, observation, questionnaires, etc.) and appropriate data analysis. It equips you with the skills necessary to undertake a final year dissertation.

The Social World of Childhood and Youth (compulsory for single honours, acceptable for combined honours)

Involves a consideration of the implications of different models of socialisation and an examination of structural, cultural and experiential factors in the development of identity. A strong feature of the module is its use of life and oral history approaches to the study of childhood and youth.

Optional modules

Historical Perspectives on Education (acceptable for single and combined honours)

On this module you will explore the ways in which education has been historically envisaged in the UK, covering the interrelationship between culture and pedagogy, and looking at how educational opportunities have been organised. Students will have the opportunity to develop an historical perspective on some current models of education.

The Developing Child (acceptable for single and combined honours)

You will have the opportunity to explore alternative explanations of developmental processes and deepen your understanding of child development introduced in the year one module Introduction to Child Development.

Literature for Young Children (acceptable for single and combined honours)

Develop your knowledge and understanding of the range of texts available to young children. It will establish skills of reflective and critical reading, encouraging students to investigate and analyse the relationship between words and pictures in texts. Students will develop skills in selecting texts which support language development with particular focus on phonological awareness and reading development.

Inclusion: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (acceptable for single and combined honours)

Explores the issues and challenges around inclusive provision for children and young people with special educational needs/disabilities. It analyses notions of discrimination and challenges you to think about your own attitudes and beliefs.

Media, Technology and Education (acceptable for single and combined honours)

You will develop an understanding of how media and technology impact on our lives and our understanding of the world around us. Emerging theories, frameworks and contemporary academic literature explore these dynamic issues and their impact on our concept of education. You will have first-hand opportunities to examine media and technology.

Children's Outdoor Learning (acceptable for single and combined honours)

On this module you will explore how young children use play to learn and how adults plan for exploration and play in the outdoors environment.

Gender and 21st Century Education (acceptable for single and combined honours)

You will develop an understanding of how concepts of gender are lived in different ways by teachers and learners. You will examine how these sometimes competing concepts shape social, cultural and educational contexts. The media, socialisation and education play vital roles in shaping teachers, learners and learning contexts. You will be expected to analyse these key domains in relation to your own experiences, and to apply your reflections and analyses to a range of key theories.

Language and the Mind (acceptable for single and combined honours)

Will introduce students to central issues in cognitive linguistics and psycholinguistics and to the methods which researchers use in these fields. Students will have the opportunity to draw on a number of topics including non-literal language processing, language development in infancy and early childhood, cognitive processing in reading, the neural bases of bilingualism, and cognitive processing of sign language. A number of empirical studies from a wide spectrum of geographic and linguistic contexts will be explored.

Year 3

Optional modules

Philosophy of Education (acceptable Honours Component for single and combined honours)

Engages with questions about the nature, aims and justification of education through a distinctively philosophical approach. By examining a range of contemporary, historical and international perspectives, students will appreciate that education is a value-laden enterprise whose core concepts are contested. Students will engage in a critical dialogue with some of the seminal texts that have shaped the way we understand the educational endeavour and will be encouraged to examine their own assumptions about education and participate in the contemporary debate through reasoned and cogent arguments.

Becoming a Reader (acceptable Double Honours Component for single and combined honours)

On this module you will look at children's literacy, investigating theories and debates about how children learn to read and become readers. You will interrogate various models of how children learn to read exploring the contribution of decoding skills, comprehension of text and attitudinal and motivational dimensions. You will critically explore the issues of multiple literacies in an era of digital communication. This module will build on Literature for Young Children module and will enable you to scrutinise a range of developmental theories and to appreciate and articulate your own position within a theoretically complex and controversial aspect of development.

Controversial and Contemporary Research in Education (compulsory Double Honours Component single honours, acceptable combined honours)

Will follow up key issues introduced in previous modules and enable you to explore and debate these in some depth, through group discussion and extended individual research.

Education in International Development (acceptable Honours Component single and combined honours)

Study the place of education in international development programmes, and explores the impact of economic development, foreign aid and international relations on educational opportunity. Educational case studies from actual development projects around the world enable you to learn about development education policy and practice.

Educational Sociolinguistics (acceptable Honours Component single honours)

'How do we harness linguistic variation for better education?' You will explore a wide spectrum of linguistic and geographic contexts that are inherently connected to the question, and will include the use of appropriate pedagogies, language-teacher training, parental/community involvement for effective education, appropriate assessment of bilinguals, and language-education planning.

Inclusion: Diverse Perspectives (acceptable Honours Component single and combined honours)

Take the opportunity to explore the ways in which various groups traditionally excluded from education can be included. We will look at the experiences of children who are marginalised or excluded and focus on the impact on the child. We will also explore and critique a range of national and international models and practices relating to inclusion.

Independent Study (acceptable Honours Component single and combined honours)

This module involves individual or group work on an appropriate topic or set of topics, under the supervision of the module leader. You will have the opportunity to devise your own programme with the support of, and in negotiation with, a supervisor. You will consider issues central to Education Studies which may be an extension of work from areas raised in other modules in the discipline, or some other agreed issue or set of issues.

Independent Study: Work and Community Related Learning (acceptable single and combined honours)

This module will help you develop graduate attributes and employability skills by requiring you to reflect critically on learning gained from activities in work, community related and extra-curricular settings. You will develop your awareness and understanding of the world of work and your future employability. The University will help you make contact with organisations, and you will arrange your placement on this module. Your placement can be in Oxford or in the surrounding area of Oxfordshire - students are responsible for their own travel and associated costs. Costs start from £14.50 for a 7 day weekly pass for Oxford and the surrounding area.

Dissertation (compulsory double honours for single honours)

An in-depth study (under the supervision of an academic tutor) of a chosen problem related to education.

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

You’ll learn via a wide variety of teaching and learning approaches, including:

  • traditional lectures
  • seminars
  • enquiry-led learning
  • collaborative learning
  • online activities.

Inter-disciplinary collaboration is a feature of research activity in the School of Education. Many themes of this course are designed around pressing contemporary issues across subjects.

  • Lectures and seminars
  • Placement
  • Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.)

Year 1

  • Lectures and seminars - 15%
  • Placement - 1%
  • Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.) - 84%

Year 2

  • Lectures and seminars - 16%
  • Placement - 0%
  • Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.) - 84%

Year 3

  • Lectures and seminars - 13%
  • Placement - 0%
  • Other learning activities (including group work, research, conferences etc.) - 87%

Learning and teaching percentages are indicative. There may be slight year-on-year variations.

Field trips

We are always keen to explore ways in which you broaden your experience of education and development. In the past we have visited The Gambia developing long standing relationships with schools and colleges and we are actively exploring international opportunities in other parts of the world, aiming to be responsive to students' needs and interests.

These field trips are optional and will incur extra costs. The approximate cost for the Gambia trip in 2018 is £1200.

Assessment

Assessment methods used on this course

Assessment is 100% coursework.

Coursework may be in the form of:

  • a written essay (up to 3000 words)
  • group presentations
  • an observational study
  • a case study of a cultural artefact
  • creation of a learning object (online teaching resource)
  • critical/ thematic reviews of literature
  • development of a portfolio of work
  • participation in online activities, eg contributions to forum discussions
  • independent study
  • a dissertation.
  • Written exams
  • Coursework
  • Practical exams

Year 1

  • Written exams - 0%
  • Coursework - 100%
  • Practical exams - 0%

Year 2

  • Written exams - 0%
  • Coursework - 100%
  • Practical exams - 0%

Year 3

  • Written exams - 0%
  • Coursework - 100%
  • Practical exams - 0%

Assessment method percentages are indicative. There may be slight year-on-year variations.

Study Abroad

You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Brookes. Most exchanges take place in the second year. Although we will help as much as we can with your plans, ultimately you are responsible for organising and funding this study abroad.

Learn more about studying abroad

After you graduate

Career prospects

A degree in Education Studies can lead to careers in many areas. We recognise that there are many career opportunities for Education Studies students, in addition to teaching. 

For those not wishing to follow a teaching career, the course offers an excellent preparation for careers in the public or private sector. Professions within a specialist education sector now include advertising, marketing, the arts, journalism, law, publishing and the media together with the charity and leisure industries. 

Some students do become teachers after completing their degrees, undertaking a further one-year PGCE course in primary or (for combined honours students) secondary education, leading to Qualified Teacher Status. Others have gone on to teach in further education colleges. Education Studies is not a programme of initial teacher education and does not in itself provide a recognised teaching qualification.  

Previous graduates from the course have gone on to have successful careers in many different fields including social work, youth work, community education, adult education, educational psychology, recruitment and retail management.

Further study

The undergraduate degree can lead to further study of education, at master's and research degree level. Your degree may also provide the basis to progress to professional courses in other areas such as educational psychology, social work, librarianship or human resources.

The School of Education at Oxford Brookes University offers opportunities in post-graduate research, including MAs in Education or Childhood, PhD study and a taught Educational Doctorate. 

Student profiles

Dawn Yardley

"The department is very personable which makes you feel welcome. Additionally my classes were usually quite small which made the lecturers very accessible. I also found the facilities to be very good including a 24-hour computer room and a well-stocked library, with many of the books also available electronically"

Read more about Dawn

Josh Harsant

"Throughout my degree, I’ve become actively involved – voluntary and employed – in local charities and national youth organisations, including local authorities, Student Hubs, ArtsWork and Adviza. I was also a participant in Camp America, which was invaluable experience to support my degree and my career aspirations"

Read more about Josh

Laura Crofts

"The most enjoyable aspect of my year spent with the Education Studies cohort was the freedom that we were given to explore educational issues that we were really passionate about"

Read more about Laura

Ryan Beard

"As I want to go into therapy, I have been able to research language deprivation on the autism spectrum and how well spiritualty acts as a voice for those with autism and poor language skills"

Read more about Ryan

Jodie Brown

"I enjoy being able to decide what I learn instead of having it chosen for me. If I had childcare commitments within a term I knew that I could work my timetable around them instead of having to arrange my childcare around my university commitments"

Read more about Jodie

Steff Bates

"I went abroad in my 3rd year and spent a year at Yamanashi University in Japan. It was great – all the staff and students were very helpful and I have made many friends and long-lasting contacts"

Read more about Steff

Our Staff

Jonathan Reid

During his mainstream educational experiences, Jon developed an interest in supporting pupils with additional learning needs. Subsequently he spent time working in a therapeutic residential school catering for pupils who had experienced severe emotional trauma due to the accumulation of adverse experiences in infancy and early childhood. Jon then joined the Local Authority as a Behavioural Support Teacher, a role which involved visiting schools across the age range and working with a variety of professionals.

Read more about Jonathan

Jonathan Reid

During his mainstream educational experiences, Jon developed an interest in supporting pupils with additional learning needs. Subsequently he spent time working in a therapeutic residential school catering for pupils who had experienced severe emotional trauma due to the accumulation of adverse experiences in infancy and early childhood. Jon then joined the Local Authority as a Behavioural Support Teacher, a role which involved visiting schools across the age range and working with a variety of professionals.

Read more about Jonathan

Free language courses

Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

More about free language courses
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Education Studies - SEN, Disabilities and Inclusion

Information from Discover Uni

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.