Education MSc

You will learn through a combination of lectures, student-led seminars/presentations, practical skills training and project work. You will complete compulsory courses and choose from a range of option courses, totalling 120 credits. Should you take up a specialist pathway, compulsory and option courses will reflect your specialism. The Master's degree culminates in an independently researched dissertation for another 60 credits.

Pathways

Students may gain either a general MSc in Education or take up a specialist pathway:

• MSc Education (Child and Adolescent Psychology)
• MSc Education (Comparative Education and International Development)
• MSc Education (Early Childhood Practice and Froebel)
• MSc Education (Philosophy of Education)
• MSc Education (Research)

Please note that courses, course content and pathways may change each year.

Compulsory and Option Courses

For a flavour of the courses you might take, the MSc Education general pathway includes four compulsory courses plus three option courses.

Compulsory courses:

• Education Policy and the Politics of Education
• The Philosophy of Education
• Sources of Knowledge
• Conceptualising research

Option courses:

Optional courses are subject to change each year but have previously included:

• Child and Adolescent Development
• Children and Technology
• Comparative Analysis in Education
• Designing, Delivering and Evaluating Training
• Developmental Disabilities: A Psychological Approach
• Gifted and Talented Youth
• International Perspectives on Education and Training
• Learners, Learning and Teaching
• Philosophical Foundations of Educational Theory, Policy and Practice
• Qualitative Data Research
• Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS
• The Curriculum: Context, Change and Development
• The Nature of Enquiry

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

This broad programme can open up a similarly diverse range of career options. Past students have undertaken further study and doctoral research, while others have applied their knowledge and skills to a variety of education-related fields, from school teaching, educational policy and administration, to recruitment, charity-related educational research and political advisory roles.

You will graduate with a highly-regarded degree and transferable skills in areas such as communication and project management, which can be applied to roles in any field.

The following are examples of where our previous students have progressed to:

• Work in educational policy (at local, regional, national and international level).
• Work in educational administration (at local, regional, national and international level).
• Advisors to politicians on educational matters. International recruitment for Higher Education institutions in Scotland and for institutions or agencies around the world.
• Returning to teaching – primary, secondary schools, physical education or within ‘additional support’ contexts.
• Research work for charitable agencies related to education.
• Doctoral research (PhD).
• Community Education practitioners.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant discipline.

We may also consider your application if you have relevant employment or experience; please contact us to check before you apply.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.

English language tests

For 2020 entry we accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified*:

• IELTS: total 7.0 (at least 6.5 in each module)

• TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition): total 100 (at least 23 in each module). We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements

• PTE Academic: total 67 (at least 61 in each of the "Communicative Skills" sections)

• CAE and CPE: total 185 (at least 176 in each module)

• Trinity ISE: ISE III with a pass in all four components

For 2021 entry we will accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified*:

• IELTS: total 7.0 (at least 6.5 in each module)

• TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition): total 100 (at least 23 in each module). We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements

• CAE and CPE: total 185 (at least 176 in each module)

• Trinity ISE: ISE III with a pass in all four components

*(Revised 21 February 2020 to remove PTE Academic from 2021 entry requirements. Revised 21 April 2020 to include TOEFL-iBT Special Home Edition in 2020 and 2021 entry requirements.)

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, PTE Academic or Trinity ISE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries.

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

You may incur additional costs for fieldwork, if taking Environmental Education options.

Featured funding

• MSc Education (Early Childhood Practice and Froebel) pathway Scholarship for UK/EU and International students

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK's governments. The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on your programme, the duration of your studies, and your residency status. (Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.)

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding