Education with a Year Abroad

Education as an academic discipline is not primarily a training for teachers, though it does provide a rigorous foundation for those who wish to enter the profession. It is a field concerned with fundamental questions about learning, development, social inequality, policy and the institutions through which knowledge is transmitted and contested. Education studies draws on philosophy, sociology, psychology, history and policy analysis to ask why educational systems are organised as they are, who benefits from them, how learning happens and what schools and universities are for.

At the University of East Anglia, this four-year full-time programme carries a year abroad in its title, indicating the opportunity to study at a partner institution in another country. This international dimension is particularly valuable in an education degree, where comparative perspectives on different national systems and educational cultures enrich your understanding of how educational choices are made and what their consequences are. You will engage with educational theory, research methods, the sociology of education, child development, curriculum policy and the history of education, developing both analytical skills and the capacity to evaluate evidence in a complex and contested field.

Graduates from education programmes move into teaching (with further postgraduate teacher training), educational psychology (with further study), social work, community education, youth work, educational research, policy analysis, publishing, journalism and the charitable sector. The analytical and communication skills developed through an education degree are also valued in many roles that have no direct connection to schools or colleges. Postgraduate study in education, teacher training, educational psychology, social policy or higher education management is a natural progression for those who wish to develop specialist expertise or qualify for professional practice.