Study Education in the UK

An MA Education does not qualify you to teach in a UK school. That sentence is the reason this page exists, and it is the single most common and most expensive misunderstanding in the subject.

Education master’s degrees are excellent qualifications. They are academic degrees about education — policy, leadership, curriculum, pedagogy, research. They are not teaching qualifications. The route into UK classroom teaching is a different one entirely.

The distinction that matters

To teach in most state schools in England you need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). QTS is awarded through initial teacher training, most commonly a PGCE with QTS or a school-based training route, all of which include assessed teaching practice in schools.

An MA or MSc in Education is a master’s-level academic degree. It may be taken by practising teachers developing their expertise, by people working in policy, NGOs or educational publishing, or by those heading toward doctoral research. It does not include QTS and does not lead to it.

Two further complications worth knowing:

• A PGCE is not automatically a PGCE with QTS. Some PGCEs — particularly those aimed at international students or at post-compulsory teaching — are academic qualifications without QTS. Read the exact title.
• The requirement differs across the UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own registration arrangements and their own teaching councils.

If your objective is to teach in a UK school, check for the letters QTS in the qualification title, and confirm with the provider in writing. If your objective is something else, an MA Education may be exactly right.

What an MA Education is actually good for

A great deal, provided the goal matches:

• Practising teachers deepening subject or leadership expertise, often part-time alongside work
• Educational leadership and management — headship, school improvement, administration
• Policy, NGO and international development work in education
• Curriculum and assessment design, publishing and edtech
• A route toward a PhD in education

Common specialisms include TESOL and applied linguistics, special and inclusive education, educational leadership, early years, and education technology. If your interest is in supporting vulnerable children and families rather than teaching them, social work is the regulated route into that.

TESOL — a particular note

MA TESOL is one of the most popular education master’s degrees among international students, and it deserves its own caution.

TESOL is about teaching English to speakers of other languages, typically in language schools, universities or abroad — and an MA TESOL is a strong qualification for that. It is not QTS, and it does not qualify you to teach in a UK state school. Many employers in the English-language teaching sector also expect a practical certificate alongside or instead of an academic master’s, so check what the roles you actually want are asking for before choosing.

Routes into UK teaching, briefly

Because it is what many readers actually need:

• PGCE with QTS — a postgraduate year combining university study with assessed school placements
• School-based training routes — training primarily in schools, leading to QTS
• Assessment-only routes — for those already teaching with substantial experience

International applicants should check eligibility carefully. Teacher training places, funding and visa sponsorship do not work the same way as ordinary postgraduate study, and eligibility can depend on your qualifications, your subject and your existing teaching experience. If you already hold a teaching qualification from another country, there may be a recognition route rather than a retraining one — worth establishing before you apply for anything.

Entry requirements, in general terms

For an MA Education:

• An honours degree, usually at 2:1 or equivalent — see the UK grading system
• Teaching or education-related experience, which many programmes expect and some require
• English language evidence at the level the course and visa require
• A personal statement explaining your professional context and what you intend to do with the degree

Requirements for teacher training routes are different again and typically include subject-specific degree requirements, school experience, and standard checks.

Where we fit in

Almost every conversation we have about this subject resolves into one question: do you want to teach in a UK school, or do you want to study education? Those are different courses, and the words on the prospectus do not always make the difference obvious.

Tell us what you want to be doing three years from now. If it is standing in front of a UK classroom, we will point you at the routes that actually get you there. If it is leadership, policy, research or teaching elsewhere, an education master’s may be the right choice and we will help you pick well.