Primary Education with SEND QTS

Primary education with special educational needs and disabilities prepares you to teach children across the full primary age range while developing specialist expertise in supporting pupils with a wide range of learning differences and disabilities. Teachers with both a strong general pedagogical foundation and a working knowledge of SEND are among the most valued practitioners in primary schools, where inclusion means that the vast majority of children with additional needs are taught in mainstream classrooms rather than specialist settings.

At the University of Sunderland, which has more than a century of experience in teacher education, this three-year full-time programme leads to Qualified Teacher Status, enabling you to teach across Key Stages 1 and 2. You will study child development, curriculum design, educational psychology, assessment and tracking, and the legal and pedagogical frameworks governing SEND provision, including the Code of Practice and the use of Education, Health and Care Plans. The SEND specialism deepens your understanding of how learning differences present across a range of conditions and how classroom environments, teaching strategies, and adaptive resources can be used to ensure that all children can access learning.

School placements are central to the programme, giving you sustained experience in real classrooms.

Graduates qualify as primary teachers and enter a profession with strong and sustained demand. The SEND specialism gives you additional expertise that is valued by schools, and many graduates develop their careers through SENDCO roles, specialist SEND leadership, or further training in specific areas such as autism, dyslexia, speech and language needs, and educational psychology. Postgraduate study in education, SEND, and educational leadership is available for those who wish to develop their expertise further.