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Study Opportunities

Research students in Faculty of Education garden

Undergraduate Study

The Education, Psychology and Learning track in the Faculty’s new Undergraduate programme focuses on education, human development and learning throughout the lifespan in a variety of social and cultural environments. Students will use psychological theory and methods of investigation, to explore people’s intellectual, social and emotional development from birth through to adulthood.

The course includes perspectives from biological, cognitive, developmental, social and cultural psychology. Knowledge and understanding are enriched by opportunities to conduct investigations in psychology and education, under the guidance of active researchers in the field.

Students on this track gain much from studying psychology within the Education Tripos. Psychological understanding is enhanced by insights and skills from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. For example, you will learn in your wider studies how to argue a point philosophically, how to engage in critical educational debates, and how to conceptualise international issues.

Masters Study

The MPhil/MEd Psychology and Education Course is a research-led Masters programme considered by the external examiner as perhaps the best course of its kind in the country. We offer full-time (one year, MPhil) and part-time (two-year, MEd) programmes that will allow you to explore topics in psychology and education that are close to your heart. The full- and part-time options are identical, except in length. We also offer a conversion course add-on accredited by the British Psychology Society.

Students engage with contemporary issues in psychology and education in order to interrogate the latest theoretically-grounded and evidence-based research. They critically investigate dominant paradigms in psychology and education, and engage with topical issues of relevance to educational policy and practice. Moreover, they develop research and career paths within the wider research culture of both the Faculty and the broader university.

The course prepares for work as a practicing psychologist, for further study through a PhD or EdD, or for applying your knowledge and skills in schools, with charities and government departments, as well as think tanks and universities.

Doctoral Study

The Faculty of Education offers a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme (full-time and part-time) and a Doctor of Education (EdD) part-time programme. In all doctoral programmes learning about, designing, conducting and reporting research plays a major role. The main purpose of the PhD is to prepare a substantial piece of original research which makes a significant contribution to knowledge advancement in the field. Through their research EdD students seek to generate, develop and disseminate professional knowledge and support innovation that will have social and educational impact.

We currently have over 200 doctoral students in the Faculty of Education from more than 40 countries. Many of these students conduct their research under the supervision of PELS staff members and are part of the Psychology, Educational and Learning Studies research community.

Practitioner Study

The Faculty of Education has a 30-year tradition of educating Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counsellors. We are delighted to offer our new and creative three-year practitioner professional development programme which is accredited by the Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA) and leads to registration with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). The Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling specialises in the aims, processes and skills of working therapeutically with children and young people through an emphasis on working through play and with the arts. Other significant strands include child and adolescent development, clinical skills, professional issues, ethics and child safe-guarding, child mental health, developing children's emotional well-being, working with children's contexts, networks and families, multi-agency work, working in a school setting, and working with groups. This programme enables participants to become effective and ethical psychotherapeutic counsellors.

We also offer an Introduction to Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling aimed at adults working with young people and children, who want to begin to develop some counselling skills and knowledge. It is appropriate for those working directly with children and young people in education or other settings such as youth work, health, or social care. It is also the entry course for those wishing to pursue the Postgraduate Diploma.