Our MA Education masters is a flexible course for anyone interested in critically exploring contemporary education. We offer a full-time route and a part-time route so you can study at a pace that suits you. From early years practitioners, teachers and leaders in education, to local authority, health services and aspiring researchers, our course appeals to a variety of backgrounds and professions. You will be joining a diverse and thriving community of postgraduate students from the UK and across the world.Examine key concepts, global issues and debates in education, from performance measurement to ethnicity, class and gender. Explore national and international policy, and consider the impact of social inequalities, and the role of politics in education. We aim to empower you to approach your own research with confidence. Youll extend your understanding of research techniques, including empirical and desk-based projects, to prepare you for completing your own dissertation. Throughout the project, you will have access to support from active researchers in our internationally renowned Educational and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Weve designed this postgraduate course to allow you to specialise and focus on areas of education that interest you. You can specialise by choosing an option unit based on work by world-class researchers in the Faculty of Education. Your option units may include topics such as literacy and language, educational philosophy, learning in informal settings, or international perspectives in education.

Career prospects

Our broad and reflective course aims to progress your career in education and enhance your academic skills for further research ventures. Our suite of masters courses are designed to help you secure positions in senior leadership, consultancy or research scholarships.

Some of our graduates take leadership roles in nurseries, schools, and colleges, from assistant head teachers and head teachers to nursery managers. Other graduates have gone on to secure posts in higher education as university lecturers, teacher educators and academic support staff. Some of our students on the full-time route progress to train as teachers. International students from our full-time route have gone on to work in their local or national departments of education and use their learning to contribute to the developmental of education systems in their own country. 

By choosing your own topics and option modules, you can focus on your areas of interest – your priorities, targets and aspirations.

Our graduates have also used our courses to help further careers, either in their current sector, or to make an informed move into a different role or field of education. Many students who complete our courses intend to study at PhD level. If youre considering pursuing a research degree (such as an MPhil, PhD or EdD) in education, this masters course is a good foundation towards that ambition. Each year, several of our current and former students win scholarships for further study or have articles published.