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Education and Professional Practice (top-up) - NTU in Mansfield BA (Hons)

UCAS code: X320

Start year

Information for 2025

About this course

The BA (Hons) Education and Professional Practice (Top-up) course is designed for you if you are an FdA Education graduate and want to top up your qualification to BA honours degree level.


This degree will open up a diverse range of career options in the sector, allowing you to make a real difference to the education and development of others.


Taught at NTU in Mansfield, you’ll cover education in its widest sense – both nationally and internationally. You’ll learn how people develop throughout their lives and study how education contributes to society.


Whether you plan to go straight into the world of work on graduating, or this is your stepping stone to further study, you’ll gain the knowledge and transferable skills you need to progress in a diverse range of careers in education.

  • Through workplace or placement opportunities, you’ll gain hands-on experience and develop your confidence as a professional practitioner.
  • On completing this degree, you’ll be well-placed to go straight into the world of work and take up a variety of careers within education.
  • Upon graduating, you’ll have the option of further study, including Initial Teacher Training courses.
  • The course is delivered over 2-3 days a week, allowing you to fit in study around other commitments.

What you’ll study

The course integrates academic and work-based learning through a range of modules. You'll develop an understanding of the broad discipline of education and develop effective communication and organisational skills. You'll also research and critically evaluate learning theories, behaviours, coaching, mentoring and practice.

Full-time students will be required to complete the full 120 credits at level 6 within one academic year.

You will be required to attend one full day, one early evening session per week and a minimum of one day per week (or minimum of 185 hours per year in exceptional circumstances and if agreed with your tutor) placement experience in an educational setting.

If you are already working in an educational setting, you can use your employment as your placement, if your employer agrees to work in partnership with NTU to aid your learning.

Modules:

Education Research (20 Credit Points)

  • This module explores the role of education research and facilitates the undertaking of a small-scale systematic enquiry into a key aspect of education.

Educator: Roles and Responsibilities (20 Credit Points)

  • This module will explore the roles and responsibilities of an educator within several contexts, considering an array of literature, legislations, and socio-economic matters.

Learning Theories and Behaviour (20 Credit Points)

  • Formal educational settings can be difficult for children and young people. Behaviours can manifest in several ways.
  • This module invites you to critically explore and define challenging behaviour and its impact on both students and educational practitioners.

Coaching and Mentoring in Education (20 Credit Points)

  • What support mechanisms do teachers and support staff have? What impact would an effective mentoring system give?
  • This module will explore a range of mentoring and coaching models and draws on theories of adult learning that will help to answer these questions.

Professional Practice Research Project (40 Credit Points)

  • This module invites you to pursue an area of your own professional and academic interest throughout the year, within an educational professional context.
  • You will attend a work-based placement throughout the course, for a minimum of 1 day per week (or, with the permission of the tutor, 185 hours over the year). You will use this experience to conduct a piece of research and make links to your professional development.

Part-time students will be required to attend one day per week during your first year. In your second year you will attend one evening a week, plus one day per week placement experience in an educational setting (or minimum of 185 hours per year in exceptional circumstances and if agreed with your tutor).

Year One Modules:

Education Research (20 Credit Points)

  • This module explores the role of education research and facilitates the undertaking of a small-scale systematic enquiry into a key aspect of education.

Educator: Roles and Responsibilities (20 Credit Points)

  • This module will explore the roles and responsibilities of an educator within several contexts, considering an array of literature, legislations and socio-economic matters.

Learning Theories and Behaviour (20 Credit Points)

  • Formal educational settings can be difficult for children and young people. Behaviours can manifest in several ways.
  • This module invites you to critically explore and define challenging behaviour and its impact on both students and educational practitioners.

Coaching and Mentoring in Education (20 Credit Points)

  • What support mechanisms do teachers and support staff have? What impact would an effective mentoring system give?
  • This module will explore a range of mentoring and coaching models and draws on theories of adult learning that will help to answer these questions.

Year Two Modules:

Professional Practice Research Project (40 Credit Points)

  • This module invites you to pursue an area of your own professional and academic interest throughout the year, within an educational professional context.
  • You will attend a work-based placement throughout the course, for a minimum of 1 day per week (or, with the permission of the tutor, 185 hours over the year). You will use this experience to conduct a piece of research and make links to your professional development.

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

Noah McCormack

Education and Professional Practice (top-up) - NTU in Mansfield

The best thing about being an NTU Mansfield student was the sense of belonging and the strong sense of community. From the moment I started, I felt that I was part of something special.

How you're taught

Flexible study

We've introduced flexible and innovative ways of learning and teaching to develop your study skills and understanding of the integration of theory and practice.

Learning and teaching methods include:

  • lectures
  • seminar discussions
  • practical work
  • project work
  • workshops.

How you're assessed

The BA (Hons) Education and Professional Practice course has been designed to provide a broad, varied, and consistent range of assessments to ensure a fair and balanced representation of the skills and knowledge you gain throughout. Assessments methods include written assignments, portfolio assessments, group and individual presentations and professional dialogue with tutors.

Contact hours

Your course will be delivered over one full day, one evening session and a minimum of one day per week placement experience in an educational setting.

In exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of your tutor, it is possible to undertake185 hours per year placement experience.

If you are already working within an educational setting, then your placement can be with your employed setting.

Staff Profiles

Dr Dr Fiona Casserley-Williams - Senior Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Dr Fiona Casserley

Careers and employability

Graduates from this course are well-placed to take up a variety of careers within education and students can go straight into work after their top-up degree.

Graduates of NTU’s BA (Hons) Education and Professional Practice top-up degree have secured roles as:

  • Educational Development Worker
  • Community Education Officer
  • Educational teaching and learning coach
  • Educational Project Manager (museums, galleries, or charities).

Graduates have also gone on to study initial teacher training courses, further post graduate learning, Higher Technical Qualifications and apprenticeships.

Employability Team

At NTU in Mansfield, our award-winning Employability team is here to inspire and enhance your career planning, whichever path you choose. Whether you wish to go on to further study or to look for job opportunities, we can guide you to be a successful candidate.

Campus and facilities

As an NTU Mansfield student, you’ll benefit from the latest facilities and modern technology to support your studies and help you get the most out of student life.

We are continually investing in our facilities and enhancing our learning and teaching environment to make it an inspiring place for students.

Facilities and services include:

  • University Centre
  • Teaching and Learning Centre
  • Library
  • Dedicated study zones, including PC suites
  • On-site café
  • Social spaces
  • Sports facilities
  • Student Support Services
  • Nottingham Trent Students Union (NTSU) drop-in events.

Entry requirements

UK students

Completion of the FdA Education degree at NTU or a similar course in Education studies.

To find out what qualifications have tariff points, please use our tariff calculator.

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.

We have undergraduate Education and Teaching courses which are suitable for tier 4 visa applicants. Here is a list of all the undergraduate courses we offer.

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.

£9,535 per year

Find out about the extra support we may be able to provide to help pay for uni, including NTU bursaries and scholarships.

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.

Fees and funding advice

For more advice and guidance, you can email our Student Money Team or phone us on +44 (0)115 848 2494.

Cost of living information and support

Managing your money can help you make the most of life at NTU. Here's how we can support you, and now you can make your funding go further.

How to apply

Ready to join us? Then apply as soon as you can. Just click the Apply now 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 and personal statement

Be honest, thorough and persuasive in your application. Remember, we can only make a decision based on what you tell us. So include all of your qualifications and grades, including resits or predicted grades.

Your personal statement is a really important part of your application. It’s your chance to convince us why we should offer you a place! You’ve got 4,000 characters to impress us. Make sure you use them to show how your skills and qualities are relevant to the course(s) you’re applying for. For more hints and tips, take a look at our page on how to write a good personal statement.

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.

All applicants welcome

We welcome applications from prospective students with a range of qualifications and experience, and all are assessed on an individual basis. Mature applicants who do not meet the standard entry criteria can still be considered providing they have relevant experience to compliment any qualifications. All applicants will need to apply through UCAS.

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.

You can get more information and advice about applying to NTU on our Your Application page. Good luck with your application!

Getting in touch

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

Please read our notes on the University's commitment to delivering the educational services advertised.