Education Studies
Durham University
UCAS Code: X305 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
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About this course
Are you interested in why people learn in different ways? Do you want to find out more about barriers to learning and how learning supports childhood development? Maybe you’d like to know more about the ways in which politics can impact education and education in diverse cultures?
The BA Education Studies is an ideal qualification if you are fascinated by the learning process and education as a global phenomenon and you want to keep your career options open. Learning and education profoundly shape all our lives and we consider these in the broadest possible sense.
From the philosophical foundations of schooling to the political implications of policy, education is a vast field that has multiple avenues to approach a seemingly straightforward subject. Our degree goes far beyond any classroom and considers education, people and their relationship to the ever-changing world.
The curriculum draws on research carried out in the Department to keep the course content relevant and up to date. The breadth of modules allows you to create your own pathway through the course. You can choose to focus purely on educational studies, or incorporate a sociology, psychology or geography element to your studies.
This BA will prepare you for a career in many different areas, both in the education sector and beyond. It can provide the first step towards a career as a teacher or researcher, and supports roles in publishing, policy making, the voluntary and public sectors, as well as many more.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Historical and Philosophical Ideas of Education will introduce you to some of the major educational theorists and the foundational ideas informing education practice today. This will help you to develop a personal perspective on the longstanding debate about the purpose and value of education.
Introduction to Intercultural and International Education gives you the tools and the opportunity to reflect on how diversity impacts education and what inequalities might emerge as a result. This will help you develop an understanding of attitudes towards others and allow you to reflect on forms of communication in contexts of diversity and their implications for education.
Contemporary Issues and Evidence in Education will introduce you to a range of contemporary issues in education and the nature and scope of the supporting evidence. With a range of guest speakers from across the Department you will gain a grounding in a variety of issues at stake.
Foundations of Psychology in Education serves as a basis for an understanding of psychological principles, processes and theories in education. The module addresses cognitive and non-cognitive person characteristics that may explain individual differences in learning processes and outcomes.
Examples of optional modules:
Disability and Educational Needs: What’s so ‘Special’ about SEND?
Year 2
Core modules:
Educational Research Methods will help you understand the purposes and implications of educational research. You will develop a critical appreciation of the different ways in which research can be carried out in education, and learn how to assess the quality of educational research.
Examples of optional modules:
Cultural Identity, Interculturality, and Education
Constructing Childhood and Youth
Higher Education: Issues of Exclusion and Inclusion
Assessing Education
Learning Lives
Learning and Development in Childhood
Disability and Educational Needs: Impairment, Empowerment and Education.
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)
Core modules:
Dissertation: Disciplinary Contexts of Education - you will undertake an extended, independent piece of research with an appropriate educational focus. The dissertation is an opportunity to bring together all the skills, knowledge and understanding gained on the course into one in-depth piece of work.
Examples of optional modules:
Education in a Global Age
Digital Society Theory and Practice
The Science of Learning
Education, Mental Health and Wellbeing
Understanding the Arts in Education
The Social Life of Education
Digital Society Theory & Practice
Evidence and Educational Policy.
Assessment methods
We promote diverse and creative forms of assessment so whilst many modules are assessed by essays, other modules may include portfolios, blogs, presentations or posters.
The 12,000-word dissertation is worth one-third of your final-year marks.
The Uni
College allocation pending
Durham City
School of Education
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Education
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Education
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
When you look at employment stats, bear in mind that a lot of students are already working in education when they take this type of course and are studying to help their career development. This means they already have jobs when they start their course, and a lot of graduates continue to study, whilst working, when they complete their courses. If your course is focused on nursery or early years education, a lot of these graduates go into nursery work or classroom or education assistant jobs; these jobs are not currently classed as 'graduate level' in the stats (although they may well be in the future as classifications catch up with changes in the way we work), and many graduates who enter these roles say that a degree was necessary.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Education
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£26k
£32k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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