Education (Top-up) BA (Hons)

UCAS code X303

This BA (Hons) Education course has been designed and developed as a final ‘top-up’ year progression route for work-based students who have completed a foundation degree in Education or Early Childhood Studies, or have similar qualifications along with experience of working in an educational setting.

Applications will open for our September 2026 start date shortly.

If you’re working or volunteering in an educational setting in London, with children, young people, or adults, this course could help you take the next step in your professional journey.

The course focuses on you as a learning practitioner, giving you the chance to build on your existing knowledge and experience through study at higher education level. You’ll develop your skills as a reflective practitioner, making connections between your day-to-day professional practice and academic study and research.

Designed with flexibility in mind, the course fits around your work and personal commitments. Teaching takes place online, meaning you can study alongside your role in an educational setting.

Key features of the course:

  • Choose the context for each module that focuses on an aspect, or aspects of Education which are of specific interest to you or are already areas of experience and expertise.
  • Learn in a way that supports your professional development, building self-confidence, self-knowledge, and self-belief in your skills and abilities.
  • Flexible online learning to fit around your lifestyle and work commitments.
  • Opportunities to tailor your assessments to your own workplace practice, making study directly relevant to your role.

Defined as ‘long full-time’ this course is an online learning programme, fully delivered online on one afternoon/evening per week, with students completing their own additional individual study in their own time with tutor support and additional support available from our London hub.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Education

Duration

This is an 11 month course and runs from September to July.

Blended learning

The course is offered as two long top-up options; as a 100% online (distance learning) option or as an online learning with some face-to-face seminars/tutorials, (blended learning) option.

If you apply for the long top-up (distance learning) route all sessions and tutorials will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams.

If you apply for the long top-up (blended learning) route all sessions and some tutorials will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. However, you will have opportunities to come to our London Campus at Here East for Face-to-Face seminars/tutorials throughout the year.

Course content

This course is designed to enhance your career opportunities, so work-based reflection and development forms a major part of the overall course content.

Throughout the course, you’ll engage in:

  • Work-based tasks and research relating to your own areas of interest, experience and expertise
  • Reflection on current and past events and initiatives that have shaped educational policy and practice
  • Drawing comparisons in provision and practice in other educational settings, including those in other countries than your own
  • Reflection on and evaluation of organisational practice and your own personal and provisional development and learning
  • Wider understanding of sector practice through collaboration and shared practice with others

You’ll develop a broad understanding and knowledge of how education can take place in a variety of organisations and locations, and how education can be delivered outside of the traditional classroom to enhance the learning journey.

As part of the course you’ll have the opportunity to engage in a small-scale, work-based research project on a topic that is relevant to your current practice and interests.

Throughout the programme you’ll be encouraged to reflect critically; to listen carefully to the views of others; to question values and opinions; to investigate evidence and you’re your own informed conclusions. You’ll be encouraged to develop as an independent learner and to extend your skills of collaborating and negotiation.

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.

Year 1 compulsory modules
Changes And Developments In Education 20 credits
Doing Education Differently 20 credits
Individual Study Project 40 credits
The Reflective Practitioner 40 credits

Entry requirements

The course has been designed for practitioners with an appropriate Foundation Degree in Education or Early Childhood Studies. Applications will be considered from students with at least 240 credits, of which a minimum of 120 must be at Level 5 from an alternative relevant course.

Applicants holding an Regulated Qualifications Framework recognised Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (DET/DTLLS/DIT) qualification will also be considered if they have a minimum of 2 years working within an educational setting.

Because this is a part-time, work-based course, all applicants must be employed (either paid or voluntary) within an education or early years setting for at least four hours per week for the duration of the course.

Facilities

Blackboard (VLE)

Blackboard is a virtual learning environment which houses your learning content. It enables online teaching/learning, provides spaces to build online communities and knowledge sharing.

Off-campus library services

Distance learners benefit from a range of services including access to e-books, postal loans of physical books, online support from subject librarians and more. Read more

Library services and learning resources

We offer an extensive range of library services to our off-campus students and help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Our comprehensive online catalogue of eResources are available for you to search for and access material such as eBooks, journals and databases. Our team of librarians can help you find your way around the electronic resources and library catalogues, or if there’s something specific you need, they can help you to source it.

Our LibGuides provide information and advice on using our online resources, with specific pages for each subject area, and can help you search for quality-assured websites. 

Find out more: Library Resources

The Hall

Integrate yourself with the buzz of digital technologies in The Hall, a space dedicated to discussion and meetings. This flexible space can be configured to suit the needs of up to 30 students, with electrical points and multiple seating areas.

View virtual tour

The Den

Everyone needs a space to relax, wind down, and take a break from study, and we have just that. In our den you'll find all the things you need to help chill you out including lockers, comfy booths, food prep space and more. Read more

The Den includes:

  • Lockers to store your personal items
  • Comfy booths to sit, chat and eat in
  • Electrical sockets to plug in your devices
  • Wireless pads that charge the latest smartphones
  • A prep area for food and drinks
  • Fridges to keep snacks in
  • Low, soft seating for kicking band and unwinding
View virtual tour

The Stage

The Stage is a 20 person capacity presentation space equipped with conferencing facilities.

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Digital Loft

A cross between a digital and natural environment, the Digital Loft brings the outside in with new and dynamic teaching spaces, state-of-the-art facilities and workstations, and a Reload retro gaming café with innovative touch-screen tables. Read more

Teaching and collaboration zones for all subject areas, a dedicated presentation space, a downtime reflection quiet area known as ‘Recharge’ and a faith room. This area of campus also houses the academic staff and student support teams, as well as a number of bookable meeting spaces for all. Fully integrated virtual conferencing is embedded throughout, and there are private pods for all to use for work or online meetings.
View virtual tour

Reload Café

‘Reload' is the showpiece retro-gaming café with innovative touch-screen tables to order your food and drink as well as get live updates on activities and events as well as being able to play games whilst socialising.

Careers

You will be provided with opportunities to prepare you for employment.

Our graduates work in a range of careers in educational settings, children’s centres, care and family support, educational administration and management, play work and learning support. Many enter teaching through PGCE, Schools Direct, Schools Direct salaried and School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) routes.

Others have progressed to postgraduate study, such as Early Years Teacher, and Masters programmes.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

The teaching and learning strategies have been carefully designed to maximise the opportunity for you to use and reflect upon your employment in the education/early years sector. Learning and teaching strategies will include; whole and small group discussion via Teams/Zoom, problem-based learning, case studies, individual research, verbal questioning, experiential practical learning for example, facilitated learning observation, one-to-one tutorials, critical reflective practice, observation of other professionals and guest speakers.

The teaching approach will often be activity based and participatory and students are expected to take a full and responsible part. You will also be required to complete work related tasks in all modules. This will give you the opportunity to link theoretical perspectives to your setting, and enable you to reflect on values, practices, assumptions and policies, nationally, and locally.

Through our Virtual Learning Environment ‘Blackboard’ you’ll have access to course materials, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations and reading lists, so you can manage your time effectively.

Assessment

Students will be provided with assessment descriptors for the programme which describe the characteristics of the performance necessary to achieve each grade at this level with clear assessment criteria. The assessment tasks set over the duration of the programme have been designed to develop and build upon a wide range of personal professional skills, whilst strongly reinforcing links between theory and practical application. Some modules have more than one assessment task and will be linked to the teaching and learning methods of the modules.

It is understandable that some methods of assessment will suit different students in different ways, therefore a range of summative assessment methods will be used on the programme to assess the learning outcomes of the modules including written assignments,  individual presentations using audio-visual tools , work-based study and research. 

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include study skills (including reading, note-taking and presentation skills); written English (including punctuation and grammatical accuracy); academic writing (including how to reference); research skills; critical thinking and understanding arguments; and revision, assessment and examination skills (including time management).

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

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.

Staff

Steve Hall

Senior Lecturer

Dr Duncan Hindmarch

Course Director

My enthusiasm for learning led me to qualify, design and deliver to initial and subject specialist teacher training courses. I have an interest in developing virtual learning environments to support learning.

Duncan's profile

Fees

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.

Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees.

Sources of financial support

If you receive funding from Student Finance you may be eligible to apply for additional benefits. Details can be obtained by visiting: www.gov.uk

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Our students

The tutor was absolutely fantastic

The tutor was absolutely fantastic and supportive – and I think what worked really well is me studying around full-time work. I had a Tuesday evening study so it worked really nicely around my Teaching Assistant role that I was doing at the time. 

It was difficult, but the support that I had off our lecturer was fantastic. They’d worked in education for a number of years so they understood how it worked.  

Marcel Phillips

BA (Hons) Education Studies

Apply

Applications are currently unavailable.

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at University of Staffordshire, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of University of Staffordshire enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

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