Education Studies - Psychology

Education studies with psychology at the University of Durham is a degree that brings the scientific study of mind and behaviour into direct conversation with the interdisciplinary analysis of educational systems and practice. Education studies examines how learning is organised, who is included or excluded by educational institutions, how policy shapes what happens in schools and classrooms, and what the purposes of education should be in a fair society. Psychology contributes theoretical frameworks and empirical methods for understanding how individuals develop, learn, and respond to the educational environments they encounter.

Together, they develop a powerful combination of critical thinking, psychological knowledge, and educational understanding.

This programme at Durham includes a foundation year, a sandwich year with a work placement, and a year abroad, providing an unusually broad range of experiences alongside the academic content. The foundation year builds the skills and contextual knowledge needed for degree-level study. The main programme covers educational psychology and theories of learning, the sociology of education and inequality, curriculum and assessment, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and the research methods used across both psychology and education studies.

The work placement gives you direct professional experience in an educational or related setting, and the year abroad broadens your perspective on how education and psychological practice are organised in different national contexts.

Graduates from education studies with psychology are prepared for careers across education, health, and social care. Teaching at primary and secondary level is a natural route, typically requiring a postgraduate teaching qualification. Educational psychology, which works with children with learning difficulties and other needs, requires doctoral-level training and is a career for which this degree provides strong foundations.

Roles in student support, special educational needs coordination, welfare work, and child and family services draw on the combination of psychological knowledge and educational understanding the degree provides. Research roles in educational psychology and education policy are further options. Postgraduate study in education, psychology, educational psychology, or social work is available for those who want to specialise in a particular professional direction.