Language Education MSc, PgDip

The Language Education programme can be studied full time or part time. You will study a number of compulsory and option courses and complete a dissertation to be awarded an MSc in Language Education.

For the Masters (MSc) you will complete five compulsory courses and two optional courses, plus a dissertation. The Diploma (PgDip) comprises a similar combination of compulsory and optional courses.

Compulsory courses:

• Language and the Learner
• Languages, Society and Education
• Professional Practice
• Sources of Knowledge: Understanding and analysing research literature
• Conceptualising Research: Foundations, Assumptions and Praxis

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

• Bilingual Education
• Critical Literacies and Critical Pedagogies in L1 and L2 contexts
• Corpus Linguistics and Language Teaching
• Evaluation and Design of TESOL Materials
• Global Englishes for Language Teaching
• Investigating Individual Learner Differences
• Language and Intercultural Communication Pedagogy
• Language Awareness for Second Language Teachers
• Language Testing
• Online Language Learning
• Second Language Teacher Education
• Teaching Languages to Young Learners
• Teaching texts across borders - from picture books to teenage fiction and film
• Text, Discourse and Language Teaching
• Theory and practice of second language learning

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.

Graduates of the MSc Language Education can:

• Show understanding of seminal as well as recent concepts and theories in the field of language education.
• Critically review and engage with key principles underlying the field of language education.
• Plan and execute a significant piece of research of your choice relevant to the field of language education.
• Creatively apply theory to practice in a context-sensitive manner.

This programme will develop your love of language and its teaching, giving you the knowledge and professional skills you need to enter the challenging field of language education or to extend your current career. Whether you are a newly qualified or experienced teacher, or you are involved in a related area of language teaching, such as curriculum development, you will benefit from the blend of educational and linguistic foundations on offer.

This qualification will allow you to pursue opportunities in foreign or second language teaching, either as a newly qualified teacher looking to enter the profession, an experienced practitioner seeking to diversify or reinforce your current career, or a non-qualified teacher with an interest in foreign language tuition.

You will also gain a host of valuable transferable skills that you can carry into any career situation.

The MSc Language Education is led by a team of language professionals and researchers with expertise in a wide variety of areas. We are a multilingual and multicultural team with professional experience gained all over the globe in the field of language education.

• The Language Education team

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Previous teaching experience is not required.

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

If you are studying at a Chinese 211 institution, you must have a minimum overall average of 80% for courses and at least 80% on the dissertation. For non-211 institutions, you must have an average of 85% for courses and 80% on the dissertation.

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 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

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 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

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