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Why choose the School of Education
Ofsted – we are a ‘Good’ provider with Outstanding in Quality of leadership and management across our partnerships.
95% of our Education and Teaching graduates are in employment or further studies 15 months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes, 2023)
Over 90% of students across all courses are employed within the first six months of graduation
100% of our undergraduate Primary Education graduates have secured jobs by the end of their course
Our Early Childhood Education course ranks 8th in its subject table for graduate prospects on track (Complete University Guide, 2024)
All teaching-training staff have QTS and were previously employed as teachers and/or head teachers; we also have teaching staff who are school governors or active members of their national subject associations
About the course
This degree is aimed at professional support staff working or volunteering in schools and educational settings. It builds on your existing professional skills and competencies, enhancing your professional practice. On successful completion, you can apply for Qualifying to Teach courses at primary and early years levels.
The course offers a range of flexible pathways, designed so you can continue to work while studying. All courses are delivered during the school year and are term time only. Choose from evening part-time study at Putteridge Bury and our Bedford campus; a flexible, part-time blended learning pathway (includes two Saturday study days each term); and a full-time option at Bedford (study one day per week). It is the only course locally offering this flexibility of degree study for working students.
Why choose this course?
- Study full or part time while working in an educational setting and use your work experience towards your course
- Benefit from experienced support in helping you balance work, study and family commitments
- Develop a strong foundation and in-depth understanding of educational provision for children aged between 3 and 11 years, and children in special education working at levels commensurate with this age band
- Learn the skills you need to apply for Qualifying to Teach courses
- You can gain your Honours degree in three or four years although your study can be spread over a longer period
- A highly successful course in terms of student satisfaction (100% overall satisfaction, NSS 2022) and student outcomes (86% of students graduated with a 2:1 or above in 2022)
Apply direct
To apply for this course, please contact admission@beds.ac.uk
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Allyson Goodchild
I began my teaching career in 1989 as a class teacher and have taught in both inner city and rural primary schools as a senior leader and as a Headteacher.
I have also worked as an associate for Human Scale Education, visiting schools around the country to support them in developing their school environments.
What will you study?
Studying our Applied Education Practice BA (Hons) course will equip you with the skills, theory and knowledge around primary education, curriculum and professional practice. As an early years educator, you will learn the principles of curriculum design in our Exploring the Curriculum unit while also questioning its aims, effectiveness and structure as part of the National Curriculum in England.
To prepare you for your work in early years education, our unit in Developing Professional Practice will explore aspects of professionalism in early years contexts. Here, you will have significant opportunities to develop your academic skills alongside your professional interests for the benefit of your own career.
Finally, you will complete a Research Project in Applied Education Practice where you will carry out a significant research project under the guidance of a supervisor to showcase your skills and knowledge gained throughout the academic year, while our Research Methods unit will prepare you with the skills for this.
How will you be assessed?
The purpose of assessment is to provide formative feedback to you, to monitor your performance and to measure your attainment. In addition, it aims to enable you to demonstrate that you have fulfilled the objectives of each unit as well as those needed for working within education as a profession.
The assessment strategies are designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate the range of knowledge, understanding and skills required by intending teachers and those who wish to work within education. Your learning will be assessed throughout the course in both a formative and summative way. A range of approaches to assessments are utilised throughout the course, to include written reports and essays, presentations, in class tests, preparation of lesson sequences and teaching materials, literature reviews and a final independent research project. These tools have been chosen to ensure there is a balance of assessment and are re-visited throughout the course to ensure that you have the opportunity to build and develop the attributes that are assessed in a systematic way. The aim is that by the end of the final year you are empowered to demonstrate the qualities that define a Level 6 qualification.
Oral presentations are included as a key element of your assessment and development, and a number of units include the formal assessment of these. The key importance of the development of oral presentational skills to intending teachers and those working within education is recognised by the course team and every opportunity is taken to encourage you to enhance your skills in this area.
The feedback given to you is intended to be formative in order to aid development. In addition to this, many units involve small-scale group and individual presentation opportunities within teaching sessions to enable students to develop their skills further. You are required to demonstrate that the work you submit for assessment is your own and you will be supported in this process by using a range of tools to include:
- Detailed assignment briefs and marking grids
- Engaging teaching sessions to included activities and discussions to support you in understanding assessment requirements
- Guidance in referencing and citing work correctly using the University Referencing Guidelines.
- The University Virtual Learning Environment, BREO, which includes access to a range of teaching and learning materials and interactive discussion boards where you can post questions and gain feedback on ideas related to your specific assignment.
- During independent study, the support of a research project supervisor to guide you in the research process and provide formative feedback on draft work.
Careers
Gain from a course that provides a clear route into a professional graduate role, through early years teacher status; primary initial teacher training; or leadership and management. Many of our past students have gone on to have successful careers within education, working in a variety of roles including head teacher; SENCO; classroom teacher; and education welfare officer.
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK 2024/25
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Merit Scholarship
We offer a Merit Scholarship to UK students, worth £2,400* over three academic years, which is awarded to those who can demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, through scoring 120 UCAS tariff points or more.
Bedfordshire Bursary
If you aren’t eligible for the Merit Scholarship, this Bursary is there to help UK students with aspects of student living such as course costs. The Bursary will give you £1,000* over three academic years, or £1,300* if you are taking your course over four academic years (including those with a Foundation Year).
Full terms and conditions can be found here.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £15,500 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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