Education Studies with Psychology BA (Hons)

Would you like to understand how people learn and develop throughout life? With this course you can discover the connections between education and areas of social, biological, cognitive, developmental and personality psychology.

Entry Criteria
Structure and assessment
Facilities and features
Opportunities and careers
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Overview

If you want to make a positive change to young people’s lives and society as a whole, then studying this course is your first step.

Education Studies with Psychology examines how childhood is understood and shaped by society and how educationalists and psychologists theorise personal, social, emotional and intellectual development.

Recent graduates have gone on to work in teaching, education practice, early years childcare, youth work, educational publishing, the creative industries or choose to progress to postgraduate level courses, such as our Education Practice MA.

You’ll cover topics including perspectives on education, thinking and learning in higher education, historical and contemporary issues and childhood, social justice and education, as well as developing your professional agency through placement in year one.

You’ll also have the opportunity to choose from elective modules in years two and three that include forest school and outdoor learning, preparing for professional practice, music in school life, inclusion, education and equality, special educational needs and creativity and education.

Key features

You will study a range of topics including historical and contemporary issues in education, perspectives on education and the core areas of psychology.
Learn about the connections between Psychology and Education with the flexibility to specialise in your areas of interest through option modules. Modules you can choose from include Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology and Counselling Psychology.
Successful completion of the course provides a foundation to progress onto ITT, enabling you to become a teacher in the UK.
Take part in our Erasmus programme for the opportunity to study in Spain, Finland or Denmark between the second and third year of your course.
Engage with the local community and boost your CV through placements and volunteering opportunities at schools, art and learning centres or museums.
Our students have gained international experience related to their studies through our DMU Global programme. Education Studies students have previously explored museum education in Amsterdam, considered inequality and segregation in New York, and supported refugees in Berlin.

Scholarships

DMU offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and bursaries to help you realise your academic ambitions.

International student scholarships

Find out about available international scholarships or visit our fees and funding page for more information.

More courses like this

Education Studies BA (Hons)

Education Studies with Modern Languages BA (Hons)

Psychology BSc (Hons)

UK
EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: X3C8 (part-time entry: apply direct to DMU)

Duration: Three years full-time, or six years part-time

Start date: September 2022

Location: De Montfort University Leicester UK

Fees and funding:

2024/25 tuition fees for UK students: £9,250

Additional costs: You may incur additional costs for this programme, including the cost of travelling to and from project/placement locations.

How to apply

Submit a study-related enquiry

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: X3C8

Duration: Three years full-time

Location: De Montfort University Leicester UK

Start date: September 2022

Fees and funding:

2024/25 tuition fees for international students: £15,750

Find out more about available funding for international students.

Additional costs: You may incur additional costs for this programme, including the cost of travelling to and from project/placement locations.

How to apply

Application guidance document

Submit a study-related enquiry

Entry criteria

GCSEs

Five GCSEs at grade C/4 or above including English Language or English Literature

Plus one of the following:

A levels

A minimum of 112 points from at least two A levels

BTEC

BTEC National Diploma - Distinction/Merit/Merit
BTEC Extended Diploma - Distinction/Merit/Merit

Access to HE Diploma

Pass in QAA accredited Access to HE overall 112 UCAS tariff with at least 30 Level 3 credits at Merit.

We will normally require students to have had a break from full-time education before undertaking the Access course

International Baccalaureate: 24+ points

Interview: No

Work experience: No

Personal statement selection criteria

Clear communication skills, including good grammar and spelling
Information relevant to the course applied for
Interest in the course demonstrated with explanation and evidence
If relevant for the course - work and life experience

English language requirements:

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent when you start the course is essential. English language tuition, delivered by our British Council accredited Centre for English Language Learning (CELL), is available both before and during the course.

Please visit dmu.ac.uk/international for more information.

UCAS Tariff changes

Students applying for courses starting in September will be made offers based on the latest UCAS Tariff.

Structure and assessment

First Year

The modules offered can change each year depending on expertise, timetabling and student interests. The following modules are indicative of current teaching:

Historical and Contemporary Issues in Education
Perspectives on Education
Evidence-based Teaching and Learning
Core Areas of Psychology

Second Year

The following modules are indicative of current teaching:

Researching Education
Contexts for inclusion

Plus, select one or two modules from:

Global Comparative Education
Contemporary Perspectives on Childhood, Youth and Education
Computer Programming as a Tool for Learning
Music in the Life of the Primary School
Perspectives on Diversity: Rhetoric or reality
How People Learn
Preparing for Professional Practice
Forest School and Outdoor learning
The ‘Priorities’ and Politics of Education
Applied Performance

Plus two modules from:

Social Psychology
Abnormal Psychology

Third Year

The following modules are indicative of current teaching:

Core module:

Education Dissertation

Plus, select two modules from:

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Education and Equality: Class, Race and Ethnicity
Gender and Education
Adult Learners and Life-long Learning
Radical Educations
Creativity and Education
Reflection on Practice: Teaching and Learning
Education and Wellbeing

Plus two modules from:

Counselling Psychology
Well-being and Positive Psychology
Psychology and Education

Click here for more detailed module information.

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

A variety of teaching methods are employed, including:

Lectures
Seminars
Workshops
Placement supervision
Independent research
Self-directed study

Assessment tasks include:

Presentations
Micro-teaching sessions
Contributions to electronic discussion boards
Creating wikis and lesson planning, in addition to written assignments

There is one examination in year two. These will allow you to develop transferable skills relevant to a career working with children, including critical and reflective thinking and communicating ideas to a group.

Timetabled, taught time is on average nine hours per week and includes:

Year one: Typically, 4 hours per teaching week in lectures; 5 hours in seminars or workshops; personal tutor contact time, extra-curricula

Year two: contact-time format depends on modules chosen. Typically: 3 hours per teaching week in lectures; 4 hours in seminars; 2 hours in workshops

Year three: contact-time format depends on modules chosen. Typically: 1 hour per week in lectures; 1 hour in seminars; 2 hours in workshops. For placement and dissertation modules, students are allocated individual supervisors who will offer tutorial support alongside lectures.

Lectures are very large groups, which typically hold well over 100 students
Seminars and workshops are typically around 25 students or less per group

Throughout the course, contact time is supplemented by placement, extra-curricular lectures, employability events, group meetings, meetings with tutors, optional field trips and other activities. As a full-time student, you will be expected to devote a considerable amount of time to independent study, placements and extra-curricular activities.

Education Studies staff have professional experience across all stages of learning and education from primary schooling through to adult learning, nationally and internationally.

Staff are members of a number of professional associations including the British Education Research Association and British Sociological Association, and are affiliated with research groups including the Centre for Critical Education Policy Studies at the Institute of Education; the Centre for Narrative Research at the University of East London, DMU Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development and DMU Institute of Research in Criminology, Community, Education and Social Justice.

The teaching team includes professors, associate professors, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. The team have a number of notable awards and accolades including the Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award and Director of the Institute for Research in Criminology, Education and Social Justice.

Staff are currently engaged in leading, internally and externally funded research projects relating to their areas of expertise, including:

A Germ’s Journey: co-creation of resources for addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals in education & health in low-and-middle-income countries. This participatory research project evaluates whether specifically developed resources (‘A Germ’s Journey’) aid children in India’s understanding of hand-hygiene principles and discusses how the findings can inform the future development of culturally relevant resources for developing countries.
Awarding of an Advance HE Good Practice Grant to re-develop our SEND module through co-production with students and practitioners who are disabled, neurodivergent and/or have special educational needs.
Race, education and decolonisjng the curriculum
Gender and education
SEND
Creativity and education
Sustainability, the environment and wellbeing
Technology and education
Alternative education
Social justice, childhood, youth and education
Gypsy/Traveller education
Music education and vocal pedagogy
Global comparative education
Educational transitions and transferable learning

Facilities and features

Health and Life Sciences facilities

Substantial investment in Health and Life Sciences has developed our teaching and learning facilities to help you develop your practical experience and theoretical knowledge beyond the classroom.

The 19th century Hawthorn Building has facilities designed to replicate current practice in health and life sciences, including contemporary analytical chemistry and formulation laboratories, audiology booths and nursing and midwifery clinical skills suites.

Purpose-built clinical skills areas allow you to apply theory to practice in a safe environment. You will receive guidance and support from staff, to ensure that your practical ability in the clinical skills suites is accurate.

Library and learning zones

On campus, the main Kimberlin Library offers a space where you can work, study and access a vast range of print materials, with computer stations, laptops, plasma screens and assistive technology also available.

As well as providing a physical space in which to work, we offer online tools to support your studies, and our extensive online collection of resources accessible from our Library website, e-books, specialised databases and electronic journals and films which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose.

We will support you to confidently use a huge range of learning technologies, including the Virtual Learning Environment, Collaborate Ultra, DMU Replay, MS Teams, Turnitin and more. Alongside this, you can access LinkedIn Learning and learn how to use Microsoft 365, and study support software such as mind mapping and note-taking through our new Digital Student Skills Hub.

The library staff offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching, reference management and assistive technology. There is also a ‘Just Ask’ service for help and advice, live LibChat, online workshops, tutorials and drop-ins available from our Learning Services, and weekly library live chat sessions that give you the chance to ask the library teams for help.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Opportunities and careers

Placements

A key element of our Education Studies programme is for students to gain placement and work-based learning experience. This helps provide you with first-hand knowledge and experience of educational settings and opportunities to apply the theory from your studies to real-world contexts.

In the first year, you will be complete a placement in an educational setting of your choice. You are also offered an optional placement module in your second and third years, as well as have the opportunity to study a number of modules that are embedded with work-based field trips and placement experiences.

Graduate Careers

This course helps develop skills that are invaluable for graduates who want to build a career working with young people and children. While this can open up opportunities for employment in primary schools, it can also include nurseries as well as other pre and after-school settings.

Many of our recent graduates have started their careers in teaching, education practice, nurseries, youth work, educational publishing and the creative industries. Graduates can also build on their knowledge with postgraduate opportunities, including an Education Practice MA, which opens up opportunities to work in a number of wider educational environments, including youth and community work, local authority employment, social and educational research and early years settings.

DMU Global

Our innovative international experience programme DMU Global aims to enrich studies, broaden cultural horizons and develop key skills valued by employers.

Through DMU Global, we offer an exciting mix of overseas, on-campus and online international experiences, including the opportunity to study or work abroad for up to a year.

Through DMU Global previous students have taught English to school children in Thailand and explored diversity and inequalities in Florida.