Education Studies BA (Hons)

What makes Education Studies at Worcester special?

Our Education Studies degree will prepare you for a rewarding career in the education sector, working with children, young people or adults. The course will enable you to pursue a diverse range of roles including primary education, prison education, charity education, hospital education and international development. It will also offer opportunities in learning support and supporting learners with special educational needs.

Across the world from the UK to Africa, education is the bedrock upon which our societies are founded. The course will teach you about the development of modern education and how education differs across the world. You'll also learn about education from diverse settings, from Forest Schools to the inner city, and from young minds to lifelong learning.

Our modules will teach you theories from a range of approaches, including political, historical, cultural, psychological and sociological aspects of education. You'll apply these approaches to real-world issues, such as how best to tackle bullying, and our course also considers the climate emergency. Each of the three years consist of a wide range of optional modules so you can tailor your subjects to your interests.

Overview

Key features

There is a wide range of module choices to suit a variety of interests.
There is an array of diverse career opportunities that are enhanced from doing the Education Studies degree at Worcester. These include prison education, forest schools, work with diverse groups, further education, higher education and youth work.
You can go on to complete a Master's degree upon successful completion of the course, which can lead to many opportunities in Higher Education.
Excellent teacher training progression opportunities: a 2.2 degree classification or above will enable you to be considered for an interview for one of our PGCE Primary courses, provided you meet the course prerequisites.
Strong course links with teacher training providers and a huge variety of employers within the education sector provide excellent placement opportunities.

"The breadth of modules and courses available within Education Studies was amazing. I did drama as well as coaching and mentoring within my discipline, and these gave me a broad range of skills."

Persis Thomas, Education Studies graduate

What qualifications will you need?

88

UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

88 UCAS tariff points

Other information

A Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is required for some modules on the course

Tom Hale

Tom spent several years after sixth form travelling and living abroad, but it was his time on the Education Studies undergraduate degree course at the University of Worcester that helped crystallise what he wanted for his future.

“I have always been interested in helping people or giving advice to people,” said Tom. “The course was brilliant and touched on lots of different things; the historical aspects of education along with very up to date content. I thought the tutors were brilliant and offered lots of support and information.

“I think my experience at University has changed me as a person; it’s made me realise a few things about the world and it’s helped me know where I want to go in my career.”

Tom is now working at Perrywood Primary School as a teaching assistant, and is training through the school to become a qualified teacher.

He is also doing a Master’s degree in education part-time at the University of Worcester.

Danni Kirkland

I really enjoyed doing my undergraduate degree in Education Studies, and it was a great course that allowed me to keep my career options open.

When I started the course I knew that I didn't want to go into teaching, but I was still unsure of exactly wanted I wanted to do. It wasn't until the second year that I realised I wanted to have a career in Educational Psychology. I began researching what I would need to do to meet the entry requirements for a Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology (as this is the only entry into the profession), and selected modules for my third year that incorporated some aspects of psychology.

I finished my degree last year and I am currently on the MSc Psychology at the University of Worcester. I intend to apply for the doctorate for the September 2019 intake. The degree in Education Studies was great as it enabled me to explore different career options whilst on the course, as well as preparing me academically for the challenges of completing a Masters degree.

Lauren Reid

Lauren took the opportunity to take a semester abroad and loved every minute of it.

As part of her Education Studies degree she went to study in the US at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Read all about Lauren's experiences in her blog post.

Jenny Taylor

In the second year of her Education Studies degree Jenny took the opportunity to study abroad in Australia.

Read all about Jenny's experiences in her blog post.

What will you study?

Our course is informed by research and current developments in the broad field of education. A range of modules allow you to explore equality and diversity issues, social issues in education, education in different contexts including and beyond formal schooling, and the impact of social media on the wellbeing of children and young people. You can also study a language or develop your academic writing to a higher level.

Year 1	Mandatory Foundations of Education Education in Context Equality and Diversity: the educational experience	Optional Children and Young People's Wellbeing and Digital and Social Media Inner City Education Introduction to teaching English as a foreign language Optional modules offered by the Language Centre
Year 2	Mandatory Educational Enquiry	Optional The Psychology of Teaching and Learning From Exclusion to Inclusion? Radical Education Religion and Education Work Experience in an Educational Setting The Global Dimension in Education Post Compulsory Education Equality and Diversity for Adults in the lifelong Learning Sector Mentoring and Coaching within Education Optional modules offered by the Language Centre
Year 3	Mandatory Independent Study	Optional Policy Making: The Search for Solutions in Education Managing Educational Change Disaffection in Education Citizenship and Education Values in Education Relationships in Education Work Experience in an educational setting Organising Learning and Teaching Critical Perspectives on Special Educational Needs; Process and Practice Extension Module Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties Special Educational Needs and Disability in an Inclusive Setting Post Compulsory Education Equality and Diversity in Adult Education Mentoring and Coaching within Education 'Race' Ethnicity and Education Education and the Sociological Imagination Theatre and Education

Year 1

Mandatory

Foundations of Education
Education in Context
Equality and Diversity: the educational experience

Optional

Children and Young People's Wellbeing and Digital and Social Media
Inner City Education
Introduction to teaching English as a foreign language
Optional modules offered by the Language Centre

Year 2

Mandatory

Educational Enquiry

Optional

The Psychology of Teaching and Learning
From Exclusion to Inclusion?
Radical Education
Religion and Education
Work Experience in an Educational Setting
The Global Dimension in Education
Post Compulsory Education
Equality and Diversity for Adults in the lifelong Learning Sector
Mentoring and Coaching within Education
Optional modules offered by the Language Centre

Year 3

Mandatory

Independent Study

Optional

Policy Making: The Search for Solutions in Education
Managing Educational Change
Disaffection in Education
Citizenship and Education
Values in Education
Relationships in Education
Work Experience in an educational setting
Organising Learning and Teaching
Critical Perspectives on Special Educational Needs; Process and Practice
Extension Module
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
Special Educational Needs and Disability in an Inclusive Setting
Post Compulsory Education
Equality and Diversity in Adult Education
Mentoring and Coaching within Education
'Race' Ethnicity and Education
Education and the Sociological Imagination
Theatre and Education

Student view - Alexandra

How will you be taught?

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support through the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will enable you to flourish and be successful.

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive seminars, lectures, presentations and external visits.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on 4 occasions in the first year, three occasions in the second year and twice in the final year of a course.

You have an opportunity to undertake a semester long placement abroad in the second year of the course.

Contact time

In a typical week you will have around 14-16 contact hours of teaching. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year you will normally have slightly less contact time in order to do more independent study.

Typically class contact time will be structured around:

10 hours of interactive seminars in groups of 15-50 (dependent on modules chosen)
5 hours of full group lectures

In year two and/or three, a half-day per week can be spent in placement for one semester.

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 22 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online and preparing coursework assignments and presentations.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment and extensive electronic learning resources.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or 'formative' assignments. Each module has one or more formal or 'summative' assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. These assignments might indicatively be essays, critical reflections, presentations and reports. There are no exams on the course.

Assessment methods include a range of coursework assessments such as essays, critical reflections, reports, portfolios, projects, case study, presentations and a final year independent studies project.
The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

3 essays
3 critical reflections
2 presentations
1 report

Year 2

2 essays
2 portfolios
1 research proposal
1 critical reflection
1 presentation
I project

Year 3

1 independent study
3 essays
2 case studies
2 presentations
1 report
1 reflective summary

Feedback

You will receive feedback on formative assessments and on formal coursework assessments. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We aim to provide you with feedback on formal coursework assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with relevant experience.

Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and 100 per cent of course lecturers have (or are working towards) a higher education teaching qualification (excluding Sessional lecturers) or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. In addition, several lecturers either hold or are working towards doctorates in education and are active educational researchers.

You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Meet the team

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course.

Ellie Hill

Ellie's expertise and interest lies in religion and values education, student experience at higher education and inclusion.

Ellie works with Education Studies students and MA in Education students.

Before becoming a lecturer, Ellie was Headteacher of a village primary school.

Dr Jenny Hatley

Jenny's main concern within education is social justice. This is a focus in all her areas of interest which have evolved from her development of educational provision across settings in both the UK and overseas. She began in museum education at the Science Museum in London, working as a Science Educator and as Assistant Curator for Space Technology. Following this, Jenny was programme manager for an aid agency working in conflict zones and areas of natural disaster to lead and deliver trauma and conflict resolution programmes in schools and villages, health counselling and disease prevention education. Following this, Jenny taught in primary schools in both the state and independent sectors developing relationships education and global citizenship. She has been lead teacher for PSHE and Citizenship and has also worked in Sweden as Associate School Leader. Jenny has also taught in Higher Education and enjoys bringing a critical eye and research base to studies in Education.

Gareth Dart

Gareth joined the University of Worcester in 2007. He was course leader for the Education Studies degree for 5 years, during which time the course doubled in size. He continues to act as the year one lead as well teaching on various modules of the degree and on Masters courses. He has specific interests in teacher education and special and inclusive education in the contexts of resource poor countries, particularly in southern Africa.

Sharon Smith

Sharon joined the School of Education at Worcester as a full time member of staff in 2013, having previously worked for the University in other capacities. She has worked closely with the University of Worcester for some years delivering Foundation Degrees and engaging in research within the University through funded seconded projects. Her expertise has been extensively in training teaching assistants and early years practitioners.

Prior to her role at the University of Worcester, the majority of her teaching has been within Further Education and she has also been involved in teaching a range of adult learners including those with learning difficulties and disabilities (and learners with Acquired Brain Injury). In addition, she has worked in schools with pupils with Special Educational Needs.

Dr Peter Gossman

Peter has worked in a range of FE and HE institutions in the UK and NZ in both Education and Academic Development roles, initially at Lincoln University just four songs south of Christchurch on the South Island.

He has worked on a large NZ project investigating the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as well as publishing on a variety of subjects, particularly in relation to 'good' teaching and conceptions of teaching and he has published in a range of academic journals.

Ruth Felstead

Teaching has always been an important part of Ruth's life. Her career prior to joining the University of Worcester has been varied and her specialism has been teaching adults in further education, including apprentices, police cadets, ‘A’ Level and BTEC students, healthcare workers and fire fighters. Ruth then moved into teacher education, which she's been doing for ten years, six of them at the University of Worcester. She is currently working towards her PhD and therefore maintains a student’s view of life. She is looking forward to meeting all of her new (and not so new) students this year.

Where could it take you?

Employability

Our Education Studies degree provides an excellent route into many careers or further study.

You may wish to progress on to a PGCE course (to become a qualified primary or secondary teacher).

We also run an MA in Education degree, and guidance is given to support you to do this successfully.

Careers that graduates move into include:

Child welfare
Learning mentor
Training professional in the private sector
Military service
Prison education
Lecturing in further education
Working in higher education
Youth work
International development work
Working in a charity

Student view - Julie

How much will it cost?

Full-time tuition fees	UK and EU students The standard tuition fee for full-time UK and EU students registering in the academic year 2020/21 is £9,250 per year. For more details, please visit our course fees page.	International students The standard tuition fee for full-time international (non-EU) students registering in the academic year 2020/21 is £12,700 per year. For more details, please visit our course fees page.
Part-time tuition fees	UK and EU students The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students registering on this course in the academic year 2020/21 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20 credit module, £2,313 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module. For more details, please visit our course fees page.
Additional costs	Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses. If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.
Accommodation	Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience, and our welcoming student communities are great places to live and study. We have over 1,000 rooms across our halls of residence. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £105 per week to 'En-suite Extra' at £169 per week (2020/21 prices). For full details visit our accommodation page.

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fee for full-time UK and EU students registering in the academic year 2020/21 is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international (non-EU) students registering in the academic year 2020/21 is £12,700 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students registering on this course in the academic year 2020/21 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20 credit module, £2,313 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience, and our welcoming student communities are great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our halls of residence. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £105 per week to 'En-suite Extra' at £169 per week (2020/21 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

How do you apply?

Applying through UCAS

Single Honours:
Education Studies BA (Hons) - X302

Joint Honours:
Computing and Education Studies BA/BSc (Hons) – GX43
Education Studies and English Language BA (Hons) – XQ3H
Education Studies and English Literature BA (Hons) – XQ33
Education Studies and Psychology BA/BSc (Hons) – XC38
Education Studies and Religion, Philosophy and Values in Education BA (Hons) - X30P
Education Studies and Sociology BA (Hons) - XL33

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

UCAS Code

X302

Apply Via UCAS

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Admissions office

admissions@worc.ac.uk

01905 855111

Ellie Hill

Course leader

ellie.hill@worc.ac.uk

01905855076

What makes Education Studies at Worcester special?

Overview

Key features

Shortlisted for University of the Year

What qualifications will you need?

Entry requirements

Other information

Book your place at an Open Day

Tom Hale

Danni Kirkland

Lauren Reid

Jenny Taylor

What will you study?

Year 1

Mandatory

Optional

Year 2

Mandatory

Optional

Year 3

Mandatory

Optional

Student view - Alexandra

How will you be taught?

Teaching

Contact time

Independent self-study

Assessment

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Feedback

Programme specification

Meet the team

Ellie Hill

Dr Jenny Hatley

Gareth Dart

Sharon Smith

Dr Peter Gossman

Ruth Felstead

Where could it take you?

Employability

Student view - Julie

How much will it cost?

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

International students

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

Additional costs

Accommodation

How do you apply?

Applying through UCAS

UCAS Code

Get in touch

Admissions office

Ellie Hill

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