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Why choose the School of Education
A flexible, part-time course that can work with your other commitments.
Designed for those presently working as, or interested in, becoming mid-senior managers and leaders in an educational organisation.
A choice of optional units allow you to follow a programme which meets your professional interests and individual needs.
About the course
This course equips you with the knowledge and skills required to analyse practice, lead change and inspire excellence. Through your studies, you have the opportunity to think critically and creatively so you can effectively navigate the evolving demands of leadership within education. The course is made up of core and optional units, providing you with the flexibility to design a programme which meets your individual needs.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Teacher Education Centre with realistic mock classrooms supported by advanced ICT resources
- Up-to-the-minute simulation technology
- Multimedia space for webinars and podcasting
- Extensive library with physical learning spaces and online resources to support your studies
Industry links
We have well-established partnerships with more than 500 schools and other organisations across the region. This network is extended nationally and internationally through research activity, putting us in a strong position when it comes to understanding national priorities, issues and key developments in educational practice.
Your student experience
The course covers a wide range of theoretical and practical aspects of leadership and management, drawing on multidisciplinary research.
Through activities and assessments, you develop analytical and practical skills that support you to progress successfully along a leadership or managerial career path.
The course team have extensive experience, are all professionals who understand the sector and contribute to wider knowledge through cutting-edge research.
The University of Bedfordshire’s Bedford campus is a small, thriving academic community where staff get to know you well and provide individualised support.
Course Leader - Dr Cathal Butler
Since 2013, I have been the course co-ordinator for our MA Education Pathways. These courses support the continuing development of practicing educators, as well as supporting the academic development of recent graduates, both British and International.
I teach across a range of our postgraduate courses and units, as well as supervising PhD students. I am also link co-ordinator for the MA Education (Leadership) course that is running at a partner institution in Guyana. I also co-ordinate our recently approved MA International Education Courses.
Course Leader - Dr Cathal Butler
Since 2013, I have been the course co-ordinator for our MA Education Pathways. These courses support the continuing development of practicing educators, as well as supporting the academic development of recent graduates, both British and International.
I teach across a range of our postgraduate courses and units, as well as supervising PhD students. I am also link co-ordinator for the MA Education (Leadership) course that is running at a partner institution in Guyana. I also co-ordinate our recently approved MA International Education Courses.
What will you study?
Studying our part-time Education (Leadership) MA course will provide you with in-depth knowledge and skills in the combined fields of education, leadership and management to support aspirations towards more senior roles in academic settings. The core unit for this course, Educational Leadership in Context, critically explores the distinction between leadership and management, and a range of theoretical perspectives. Leadership elements are also explored in depth in the unit Leading Change in Education, which looks at the application of change management concepts to the changes needed to support development in schools. The unit, Exploring Coaching and Mentoring, highlights in particular the interpersonal skills required of leaders to support the development of their team.
As well as having substantial units focusing on aspects of leadership, the course also allows you to select from a range of other optional units available across our part-time MA Education pathways depending on your research interests. To better understand children and their needs, our unit in Children’s Voice: Researching and Analysing Children’s Lives will allow you to examine children’s lived experiences based on tensions within family, welfare and education policies. This may involve considering how low pay or long working hours of parents could place constraints on family time available to children, and the implications of issues such as this for policy and practice.
Another crucial area to your educational practice involves Meeting Diverse Needs, and you will do this by engaging with research literature on how diverse needs can be supported in educational settings to promote inclusion in your professional practice. More importantly, you will adopt a reflective approach in our Enhancing Practice in Educational Settings unit that will enable you to identify your strengths and areas for development to be responsive to student needs. Finally, you will complete a Dissertation in Education (Leadership) in a research area that interests you. To help you with this, our Research Methods in the Workplace unit aims to develop your research skills through a range of activities.
How will you be assessed?
Each unit in this course has its own assessment. Wherever possible the specific focus of assignments is negotiated individually in order to ensure that the assignment meets the personal and professional needs of the student.
The course provides you with a carefully planned and coherent sequence of learning opportunities that facilitate your development through formative and summative assessments. At this level the expectations in terms of the quality of work produced are high and you will need to take active control of your learning.
At Master's level the expectation is that you are an autonomous and confident learner that you will undertake assessments that are challenging and require mature argument developed from sustained research and that you will demonstrate fluent and cogent presentation. You are encouraged in your assessments to draw upon an extensive range of sources to demonstrate a deep theoretical understanding and the ability to apply that to current issues and contexts.
The assessments test the ability to construct a reasoned sustained and coherent argument and to articulate it fluently in a range of contexts. You are required to demonstrate an appropriate level of research of independent argument and to reference in an appropriate and accurate manner. Through the assessments designed for individual units you will practise and reinforce skills in researching evaluating and synthesising materials with a critical eye; quantitative and qualitative data collection and handling together with skills associated with conventional academic tasks. Unit assessment is based on specified learning outcomes and threshold standards.
The unit information forms state clearly the aims objectives and learning outcomes of the unit and delineate the criteria of assessment for each outcome. The unit assessment feedback offers detailed comment to the student on the assessment piece. The taught stage of the course (stage 1) requires you to pass 120 credits before progressing to stage 2 the 60 credit dissertation. An alternative to this is if you already have a PG Certificate (60 credits) e.g. PGCE you would be able to complete your qualification with a further 2 x 30 credit units and our Applied Research Methods and Project for stage 2 of your study.
Careers
For existing professionals this Master’s qualification will enhance your chances for promotion to senior positions in the field of education and in particular senior management roles within schools. It acts as an important indicator of your ability and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a senior leader in educational settings. It is designed to help you critique key issues in education as well as to identify and justify recommendations for further action.
As a Master’s graduate therefore you will have the confidence knowledge and critical skills to prepare and present a strong application to senior posts in the field of education. It is also an ideal base from which to progress to study at Doctoral level.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £10,000 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International 2024/25
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £16,900
If you have any questions around fees and funding, please email international@beds.ac.uk
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £10,000 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International 2024/25
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £16,900
If you have any questions around fees and funding, please email international@beds.ac.uk
