Education Studies

Education studies is an academic discipline that takes education itself as its object of inquiry, asking why societies educate, how education systems are organised and why they take the forms they do, what counts as knowledge worth teaching, and how inequalities are reproduced or challenged through schooling and learning. It draws on sociology, philosophy, psychology, history, and policy studies to construct a broad and critical understanding of education as a social practice.

At the University of Northampton, this programme is offered on a part-time basis, making it well suited to people who are already working in educational or community settings and who want to develop a more rigorous conceptual understanding of what they are doing and why. It also suits those returning to study after a break, or managing family or caring responsibilities alongside academic work. The part-time mode allows you to pace your engagement with the subject while still benefiting from the full depth of the curriculum.

You will explore the history of education in Britain and beyond, examining how ideas about childhood, curriculum, and schooling have changed over time. You will engage with the sociology of education, studying how class, race, gender, and disability shape educational experiences and outcomes. Philosophy of education raises questions about the aims and values that should guide teaching and learning.

Policy analysis examines how governments have shaped and continue to shape educational provision.

Education studies develops critical thinking, careful argument, and an ability to question assumptions that most people take for granted about what schools are for and how they should work. These are valuable capacities both within and well beyond educational settings.

Graduates work in schools, further education colleges, adult education, community learning, educational charities, local authorities, and policy research. Many use the degree as a stepping stone to teacher training, educational leadership, or postgraduate study in education, sociology, or policy.