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Education: Policy and Practice FdA

About this course

This course is designed for people already employed in education roles and draws on the knowledge and experience gained through this employment. It specifically intends to meet the needs and interests of those who want to combine employment with further learning to enhance their future career. Students must be employed in an education setting for a minimum of 15 hours a week for the duration of the course.

This two year, part-time foundation degree is designed to support, develop and extend your academic learning as a foundation for professional development. You will undertake small tasks and projects within your own working environment to support module sessions and assignments.

It is ideal for a range of practitioners including:

  • teaching and learning support assistants
  • learning mentors
  • extended school activity workers
  • subject technicians
  • support workers in alternative education settings

It may also be of interest if you are employed in a wider learning support/education role.

  • Studying in the evening to fit around your work and commitments.
  • Expand your knowledge and skills to enhance your educational support practice.
  • Extend your transferable skills to support your career development.
  • Progression options to an undergraduate degree or teacher-training.

What you’ll study

We are currently reviewing the content of our courses to ensure that they remain relevant and current to our students’ future ambitions and society. Please continue to check this course webpage for the latest developments.

In Year One, through a reflective approach you will explore the impact of education policy on practice, communication and management of learning and creating an ethos of education for all. In Year Two you will focus on technology in learning and the wider context of learning in non-traditional educational settings. In Year One you will study 120 credits at level 4 and in Year Two, you will study 120 credits at level 5.

Throughout this year, you will develop your knowledge and understanding of education policy and practice. There are four modules this year:

Education: Policy and Practice (20 credits)

This module aims to:

  • Introduce you to the ways in which education policy influences your practice.
  • Give you the opportunity to examine how education is shaped by the wider social and political environments.
  • Give you the opportunity to explore the relationships between policy development at an institutional, macro-level and its impact at classroom, micro-level.

Equality and Social Justice (40 credits)

This module aims to give you the opportunity to:

  • Research issues of equality and social justice and marginalised individuals in education and society using relevant literature.
  • Undertake an exploration of the issues affecting equality of education and social justice for all.
  • Engage in looking at what these concepts mean in the context of education and how to put them into action.

Communication (40 credits)

This module aims to give you the opportunity to:

  • Explore the important of communication in education.
  • Develop and practice strategies to support learning including: the use of language and media resources to clarify knowledge and concepts.
  • Develop strategies to promote positive behaviour through understanding cultural, social and emotional aspects of development.
  • Apply knowledge of development to identify how to provide for learning and to identify when additional intervention is required.
  • Effectively use different modes of communication to work effectively within a multi professional context.

Management of Learning 1 (20 credits)

This module aims to give you the opportunity to:

  • Reflect on planning, organising and managing an effective learning environment.
  • Address the principles of adult learning (andragogy) and see how they link to the principles of learning experiences of children (pedagogy).
  • Contextualise theoretical concepts and facilitate the development of practical skills, involving individual or group work and problem solving approaches.
  • Reflect the application of theoretical approaches to practice in supporting learning and development.

There are three modules in Year Two. These modules will embed academic skills, skills for employment, research skills, globalisation and sustainability in education. At the end of this year, you will undertake a synoptic review of your learning and identify current and future skills for employment and further study.

Management of Learning 2 (40 credits)

This module aims to give you the opportunity to:

  • Deconstruct the notion of managing learning depends on how learning is defined and how it is managed by using relevant theorises and practice of educational management, leadership in educational management and strategy, policy and planning.
  • Examine the ideas of communication, managing professional development and accountability in education.
  • Critically examine and reflect on theoretical perspectives and apply these to practice through discussions within seminars, case studies and dialogue and reflection with tutors and your own work colleagues.
  • Explore how to manage learning in different education environments drawing on various policies and literature to critically reflect on your practice.

Technology in Learning (40 credits)

This module aims to give you the opportunity to:

  • Explore the role of technology in education drawing on various policies and literature to critically reflect on your practice.
  • Examine the use of technology in a variety of contexts - mainstream, SEN and others.
  • Debate the conflict between traditional assessment and innovative techniques.
  • Use technology in the course, for instance Thinglink and Padlet, Lynch.com.

Learning in a wider context (40 credits)

This module aims to give you the opportunity to:

  • Examine the wider landscape and understand the role of working more collaboratively across different agencies and the opportunities and challenges this poses against the backdrop of government policies and the White paper promoting partnerships.
  • Develop skills and knowledge to support learning and teaching in different contexts by studying a multidisciplinary theoretical approach to education.
  • Identify student's own skills set and reflect on alternative careers in the education sector.

We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.

Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves

Student Profiles

Lyndsey Wenden

Education: Policy and Practice

Balancing life as a parent, a teaching assistant, and a student has been challenging yet rewarding, and the encouragement from the lecturers has been instrumental in helping me navigate this journey.

How you're taught

Sessions run in the evenings and include seminars and tutorials, supported by work-based practice. Full support of your manager is required to allow work-based activities linked to your study.

Studying away from the University campus is made easy with NOW – the NTU Online Workspace. It offers you course and module information, the ability to upload assessments and receive feedback, as well as store personal files. NOW can be used anywhere that you have an internet connection.

Learn from our experienced staff

Our tutors are all experienced professionals who contribute to research and development within their specialist fields. Their research and influence not only shapes new educational practice, but also feeds directly into our courses, keeping you at the forefront of policy and practice.

How will I be assessed?

The course uses a range of assessment techniques to enable you to meet the learning outcomes and develop suitable skills for employment in education. Subject knowledge, understanding and transferable employment skills are assessed through practically based assignments. Assignments include presentations, reports, essays, portfolios, work based practice reflection.

Work based practice is not assessed as all course members are employed or volunteer members of staff whose practice is appraised within their own setting. However, to develop your practice, you are required to reflect critically on your work as an education practitioner.

Placements

You are expected to be in employed in an educational support role and therefore no placements are required.

How you're assessed

  • Year One coursework (100%)
  • Year Two coursework (100%)

Contact hours

You will have around 10 – 12 hours per week of contact time (lectures, seminars or workshops) with our teaching staff which is around 30% of a full-time week. Approximately 90% of our teaching is in-person. The remaining 70% of your time will be devoted to independent study.

Staff Profiles

Dr Tarah Abdishakur - Senior Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Dr. Abdishakur Tarah is a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Institute of Education within the School of Social Sciences, and Course Leader for BA (Hons) Education: Policy and Practice.

Careers and employability

This course is designed to support, develop and extend the academic learning of practitioners working in education and community settings. It offers a foundation for professional development.

Links with industry

We involve industry experts in our courses in a number of ways.

  • We consult with employers when we design and update our courses.
  • We ensure you are prepared to meet the demands of the workplace by continually checking the currency and validity of our courses with employers.
  • Employers may input directly into your course through guest lectures, projects, and other work-related activities.

Learn a new language

Alongside your study you also have the opportunity to learn a new language. The University Language Programme (ULP) is available to all students and gives you the option of learning a totally new language or improving the skills you already have.

Learning a new language can:

  • enhance your communication skills
  • enrich your experience when travelling abroad
  • boost your career prospects.

Find out more about the University Language Programme.

If you’d like to know more about NTU’s groundbreaking Employability Promise, and the support you’ll receive both during and after your course, visit our Careers and Employability page.

Campus and facilities

You’ll mainly be studying in the Ada Byron King building, home to Nottingham Institute of Education.

Our self-contained, community-focused Clifton Campus has been designed to keep our students busy between lectures. Catch-up with your coursemates in the Pavilion’s barista café and Refectory; brainstorm group presentations in chic and stylish study spaces; enjoy some proper R&R in The Point, home of our Students’ Union. The campus also hosts the multimillion-pound Clifton Sports Hub, offering great options for everyone — whatever your interests, and however competitive you’d like to get!

You’re also right next to the bright lights of Nottingham — one of Britain’s top 10 student cities, and one of Europe’s top 25. All through termtime, a dedicated on-campus bus service will get you to the heart of the action (and back) in under 25 minutes. You’ll find a city stuffed with history, culture, and well-kept secrets to discover at your leisure: enjoy lush green spaces, galleries, hidden cinemas and vintage shopping by day, and an acclaimed food, drink and social scene by night.

Take our virtual tour to get a real feel for the campus.

Entry requirements

UK students

Standard offer: Level 3 qualification in an Educational subject, e.g. A-level, BTEC, CATCHE, or NVQ

Other requirements: GCSE English and Maths grade C / 4, full support from your manager to allow you to undertake work-based activities, one year's work experience in a related role (minimum 15 hours per week); and current employment in a related field.

International students

This course is not suitable for tier 4 visa applicants.

We accept qualifications from schools, colleges and universities all over the world for entry onto our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. If you’re not sure how your international qualification matches our course requirements please visit our international qualifications page.

Policies

We strive to make our admissions procedures as fair and clear as possible. To find out more about how we make offers, visit our admissions policies page.

Fees and funding

UK students

- see the fees for this course, as well as information about funding and support.

Fees for the 2026/27 academic year are yet to be agreed.

You will need to pay tuition fees for each year that you are at university. The tuition fees, including the placement year and study abroad options are subject to government policy and may change in future years of study.

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but we don’t want you to feel anxious or confused about it. Visit our fees and funding pages if you have any concerns.

International students

- see the fees for this course, as well as payment advice and scholarships.

This course is not suitable for applicants who require a student visa.

However, we do accept qualifications from schools, colleges and universities all over the world for entry onto our Bachelors and Masters degrees. If you’re not sure how your international qualification matches our course requirements please see our information about international qualifications.

Additional costs

Your course fees cover the cost of studies and include loads of great benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert Employability team and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses. There are just a few additional things you may need to budget for:

Textbooks and library books

Most modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary and further information is available in the University’s bookshop. Our libraries provide a good supply of essential textbooks, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) - meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! There may also be a supply of second-hand books available for purchase from previous year students.

Printing and photocopying costs

The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the printing and photocopying information on the Library website.

Field trips

All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.

Placements

If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.

How to apply

Ready to join us? Then apply as soon as you can. Just click the Apply button at the top of the page and follow the instructions for applying. Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before you do.

Writing your application

Be honest, thorough and persuasive in your application. Remember, we can only make a decision based on what you tell us. Make sure you include as much information as possible, including uploading evidence of results already achieved, as well as a personal statement.

Keeping up-to-date

After you’ve applied, we’ll be sending you important emails throughout the application process so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

Diversity of our students

We are committed to promoting a diverse and representative body of teacher trainees. We welcome applications from under-represented groups, such as male applicants, applicants from BME communities, mature applicants and those with disabilities.

Get in touch

If you need any more help or information, please call us on +44 (0)115 848 4200 or complete our enquiry form.

Good luck with your application!