Early Years and Primary Education (3-7) with QTS BA (Hons)

How you learn

The course aims to integrate the practical and theoretical aspects of teaching. There are regular placement days from the first year onwards, culminating in practical assessments, and you undertake four national priority school-based placements. You conduct research in your specialist area, and will be taught to critically analyse key learning principles.

You learn through:

• lectures and seminars from expert tutors
• regular school-based placements and research
• one-to-one support from a personal academic tutor
• research into a specialist area such as maths, science, PE or languages
• range of e-learning materials

Work placements

Throughout the course you will work extensively in local and regional primary schools, starting with regular placement days and a practical assessment in your first year. You will develop your skills and knowledge in order to meet the Teachers' Standards in that setting.

In second year, on top of an assessed placement, you undertake four national priority school-based training placements (SEND, EAL, Early Reading and Early Number). You also attend placement days in a specialist setting, in line with your chosen area of expertise.Your third year involves carrying out an individual educational enquiry project, which enables you to carry out school-based research in your specialism. You may be able to study abroad as part of the Erasmus programme.

Future careers

The majority of students completing the course go directly into employment as qualified teachers. A number of key transferrable skills are also developed throughout the course, allowing for alternative progression or career routes.

Some of these include:

• local authority/voluntary sector worker or researcher
• non-government organisation (NGO) administrative and research posts
• enrichment work with young people
• more general graduate careers including, for example, retail management and the civil service
• academic career as researcher via Masters level study and PhD