Education

at Burton and South Derbyshire College

FdA

Location

Burton and South Derbyshire College

Start dates available

  • September 2026

Develop your career as an education professional and gain formal recognition for your skills.

This course is ideal if you’re already working or volunteering within an education setting, either supporting children, young people or adults. You will combine work-based tasks with academic study and research.

We focus on you as a learning practitioner, giving you the opportunity to build on your existing knowledge and experience. You will also develop your understanding of wider practice within the sector.

You can either take the FdA in Education or follow an early years pathway to earn an FdA in Education (Early Childhood Studies). The course is taught through partner colleges and leads to a qualification awarded by University of Staffordshire.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: FdA Education

Course content

The course is designed for people who want to combine work and further study. It provides you with a route to a degree and professional qualifications.

You will be expected to reflect on your own workplace practice as part of your development. This will include work-based tasks, creating resources to support learning, carrying out research and also observing the practice of other professionals.

There are a range of core and optional modules, enabling you to tailor the course to your particular interests. This includes undertaking an optional pathway in Early Childhood Studies.

You will cover safeguarding practices, holistic development, inclusion and how to support people with unique needs. We also look at teamworking and leadership skills. Other modules explore behaviour for learning, assessment and planning.

Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module where available.

Year 1 compulsory modules
Learning And Holistic Development 40 credits
Personal And Professional Development 20 credits
Safeguarding And Developing Educational Practice 40 credits
Supporting Learning And Inclusion 20 credits
Year 2 compulsory modules
Assessment For Learning (Guided Research In Education) 40 credits
Behaviour For Learning 40 credits
Leadership And Team Working 20 credits
Professionalism And Career Development 20 credits

Location

You will study at Burton and South Derbyshire College but receive a qualification from University of Staffordshire.

Burton and South Derbyshire College is a great place to learn. There’s a real buzz here; inspiring teachers, engaged learners, fantastic state of the art facilities and career-boosting links with leading businesses.

Burton and South Derbyshire College website
Burton and South Derbyshire College logo

Entry requirements

All full-time and part-time applicants are individually assessed on their qualifications, skills and experience.

However, you would normally:

  • Demonstration of a clear Enhanced DBS check which confirms that there are no reasons why a candidate should not work with children
  • Be in employment (either paid or voluntary) within an educational setting for at least four hours a week
  • Have a pass in a Level 3 vocational qualification, although evidence of suitable workplace experience may be considered
  • GCSE qualifications in English and Maths or demonstration of a level 2 competence.
  • If English is not your first language you will be expected to have achieved an IELTS score of 6.0 or above

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Get country-specific details on entry requirements, fees, scholarships and support services. Choose your country to see how University of Staffordshire can support you from application to arrival.

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Careers

You can progress onto the BA (Hons) Education (Top Up) degree that may provide a route into PGCE qualification and teaching. 

Graduates from this course have also secured promotions within their current roles, working within education.

Your degree isn't just about securing that all-important academic qualification. It’s about gaining life and work skills to help you get ahead in the job market and gain employers’ respect. As a graduate of awarding body Staffordshire University, you'll gain skills and attributes that will help you stand out from the crowd, and become an employable, enterprising and entrepreneurial individual.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Students learn in different ways. To help everyone get the most out of their studies, a blended approach will offer flexibility of learning for students through the use of face-to-face and virtual lectures, workshops and group work. In addition, you will have timetabled meetings with your academic mentor.

Assessment

Your course will provide you with opportunities to test your understanding of your subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark. Each module normally includes practice or ‘formative’ assessments, for which you receive feedback from your tutor.

Practice assessments are developmental and any grades you receive for them do not count towards your module mark. There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. This includes a range of coursework assessments, such as essays, case studies, portfolios, presentations and a final year independent project.

Feedback

You will normally receive feedback on coursework assessments within 20 working days following the date of submission. examination feedback may take a variety of formats. However, as a minimum, generic feedback will be made available to all students who take written examinations.

Fees

For the course starting on 7 September 2026 the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands
Full-time £6,350 per year of study

UK and Channel Island students: This tuition fee is agreed subject to UK government policy and parliamentary regulation. If the UK government passes appropriate legislation, the fee for subsequent years of study may increase in each academic year. But this increase will not exceed the rate of inflation as measured by RPIX**. Any change in fees will apply to both new and continuing students. The University will notify students of any change as early as possible. Further information about fee changes would be posted on the University’s website once this becomes available.

**RPIX is a measure of inflation equivalent to all the items in the Retail Price Index (RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date
Burton and South Derbyshire College FdA Full-time, long 7 September 2026 Apply now
for Career Prospects

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of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

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