Institute of Education

Educationalists make a unique and significant contribution to society

Do you want to become a lighthouse in your community? Educators are a guiding light, so that learners are inspired to believe in themselves and the world they will help create. As an educator, you will help young people find their way, illuminating opportunities and providing support to reach their full potential. Students who choose to study education and learn how to become teachers step into careers like no other.

You will be taught by our outstanding lecturing team, with regional, national and international profiles. Our research centres, CREATE and the Centre for Real-World Learning, provide exciting additional opportunities to learn about cutting-edge research. Our state-of-the-art library, technology-enhanced learning spaces, and outstanding teaching resources will further enrich your experience.

We know what it takes for students to be successful, and we provide you with the support and challenge you need to exceed your expectations of yourself. We have partnerships with over 350 schools providing excellent opportunities to gain experience, reflect on your developing practice, learn from your mentors and develop as skilled practitioners. The Complete University Guide ranked us 9th for undergraduate Initial Teacher Education in the UK.

Undergraduate programmes

Is your ambition to become a primary school teacher?

See our BA Primary Education with QTS programme. You get to learn about every National Curriculum subject, child development, and the professional identity of teachers, including your own! You will have school-based placements in each year of study and enrichment modules on curriculum subjects, SEND or Early Years.

If you don’t want to be a teacher, but you are passionate about early years practice:

Our BA Early Years programme may be for you! This programme includes placements in early childhood settings (0-8 age range) in each year of study, as well as a rich theoretical base in educational theory, early years, and SEND. There is also an exciting career option to gain the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Status at Level 6 (professional qualification) alongside your degree.

Looking for other routes into making that unique and significant contribution to education and society?

Our BA Education programme allows you to explore education in the broadest sense of the word, through the domains of psychology, philosophy, politics, sociology, and other theoretical lenses. You can also specialise in Early Childhood theory or Special & Inclusive Education. With this degree, you could progress to a PGCE to gain QTS and then become a teacher, if that’s right for you. You could also consider alternative career routes in education, such as safeguarding, policymaking, social work, pastoral care, adult learning, and more.

Postgraduate programmes

Are you a graduate who wants to be a secondary school teacher?

See our PGCE Secondary Humanities combinations, where you can choose two humanities subjects from Geography, History and RE. You will also learn how to support learners to be successful, explore your evolving identity as a teacher, and apply education theory.

Are you a graduate who wants to be a primary school teacher?

See our PGCE Primary programme, which allows you to specialise in 5-11 years PE, Maths, SEND, or 3-7 years. On these programmes, you will learn about every national curriculum subject, additional needs and the application of education theory to your practice. The routes provide insights into working with particular groups of children or focusing on particular subjects.

Do you already have an undergraduate degree or QTS?

Our MA Education programme provides flexible approaches to advance your understanding of education and research, with online asynchronous study, live online seminars, and one-to-one tutor support. Specialist strands in Early Childhood, Leadership, SEND, Philosophy, or Practitioner Research allow you to align your studies with your professional expertise and areas of interest.

Continuing professional development

We also provide NPQ qualifications in Leadership: Headship, Senior Leadership and SENCO, and specialist NPQs in leading teacher development, leading teaching, leading behaviour and culture, leading literacy and the new EmpowerED Leaders New Middle Leadership Programme.

Find out more about the Institute of Education

• Keep up-to-date with our activities on Instagram: UoW_Teaching, @Edstudies_UoW and @UoW_ResourceBase
• Find out more about (CREATE), the Centre of Research for Educational Action and Theory Exchange
• Find out more about the Centre for Real World Learning