Education
Award
BA (Hons)
Duration & study mode
4 years full-time
School
Education & Social Sciences
Location
Ayr
Additional information
Ucas code
X100
Course starting dates
-
Ayr: September
If you’ve got a calling to teach then UWS’s BA Education will help you establish a career as a primary school teacher.
This degree is designed to equip you with the skills to work effectively within a primary school setting and will provide you with a broad-based education in contemporary subjects.
UWS’s BA Education also offers the flexibility of combining your studies in education with a specialism and provides valuable opportunities for school placement throughout each year of study – giving you the hands-on experience needed to complement your academic studies.
School placement opportunities are embedded in each year of the programme, which will provide you with the hands-on experience to complement your academic studies.
You’ll spend 30 weeks of the programme on placement and will also have the opportunity to undertake a placement in an additional support needs school.
We will provide opportunities to undertake additional voluntary placements in Additional Support Needs schools across Scotland. We currently have 26 partner schools across seven local authorities.
You can undertake optional short and medium-term placements in various countries, including France, Spain, Norway and Israel.
Students who have undertaken languages modules within the programme will be offered opportunities to gain academic credit in partner institutions as part of the Year 3 programme. One term would be spent abroad.
UWS is recognised as one of the most innovative providers of education degrees in the UK. This programme was ranked first in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2020. From early years to adult education, students gain rich experience from our innovative courses and graduate with unrivalled career prospects.
Our students gain vital skills and practical experience through work placements, preparing them for successful careers in pre-school, primary, secondary and community education.
in the UK in the Guardian University League tables, 2020
Overall Satisfaction (National Student Survey 2019)
We welcome Scottish, UK and international students and consider all applicants on an individual basis.
If you are applying with an EU or non-EU qualification, please check our Undergraduate Entry Requirements page which gives more information about country-specific entry requirements.
The range of subjects across your qualifications should reflect those taught in the primary curriculum.
An offer of a place on this programme is made on the basis of your application and successful interview.
These are the minimum entry requirements for the programme. Due to the highly competitive nature of this programme additional qualifications are often required.
Successful applicants who gain a place on this course will need to register on the PVG Scheme, managed and delivered by Disclosure Scotland. An application form will be sent from the University once you have accepted your offer. The fee for joining the scheme is £59.
Visit the Disclosure Scotland website for more information on the PVG scheme.
For applicants whose first language is not English, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. The qualifications below must have been gained within two years of the start of your course.
General English language requirements at UWS: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)
Exceptions to this level of IELTS scoring exist for some accredited or professionally-recognised courses (see section below for more details).
SOCIAL WORK DEGREES
For our BA (Hons) Social Work and MSc Social Work programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
All stated English tests are acceptable for admission for both home/EU and international students for this programme:
For our research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA, DProf) applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to, or require professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council, applicants are required to have an IELTS or Occupational English Test (OET)*.
For such courses, the IELTS score is as follows:
* Note that the Occupational English Test (OET) will now be accepted in addition to IELTS as proof of a Nurse's English Language Competence (Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2019).
For our BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and MSc Advanced Biomedical Science programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
For our Certificate of Higher Education courses, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
TOEFL IBT*: 78; no sub-test less than:
* Please note that TOEFL is still acceptable for admission to this programme for both home/EU and international students.
For international students, the Home Office has confirmed that the University can choose to use TOEFL to make its own assessment of English language ability for visa applications to degree level courses. We therefore still accept TOEFL tests taken in the last two years for admission to this programme.
West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE) including acceptance of WAEC Scratchcard*
*UWS will accept a WAEC scratchcard confirming that an applicant has achieved C6 or above as evidence of meeting English language requirement from Nigeria if the student graduated within the last 5 years. After 5 years applicants would be required to provide the WAEC Certificate.
Applicants who do not meet the minimum English language requirements have the option to study one of our preparatory and pre-sessional English courses. The UWS courses available are:
Primary school teaching is challenging, exciting and rewarding. Our BA Hons Education is designed to equip you with the skills to become an effective primary school teacher and provide you with a broad-based education in contemporary subjects.
The BA Hons Education offers the flexibility of combining your studies in education with a specialism to enable selection from a range of qualifications, including:
Guest speakers also form part of the programme to further deepen your understanding of your subject. Recent speakers have addressed topics such as supporting learners with hearing impairments, learners on the autistic spectrum and sectarianism.
Valuable opportunities for school placement are embedded in each year of the degree, providing hands-on experience to complement your academic studies.
You will spend 30 weeks of the programme on placement. Your school placements include a range of primary schools within local authorities in Scotland.
In years 1 and 2, school placements provide insights into the role of the teacher and the diverse range of professionals involved in the education and care of children and young people.
As you progress to years 3 and 4, theoretical knowledge and the practical skills required for effective primary teaching are enhanced. Here, you gain professional skills to enable you to lead learning in schools. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a placement in an Additional Support Needs school.
Lectures, tutorials, workshops and use of the Moodle VLE, employing a range of learning and teaching methodologies including exposition, whole-class discussion, paired and group work, problem-based learning, student presentations, and resources such as subject-specific equipment, interactive whiteboards, and laptops will be used, as appropriate, to develop student learning and prepare them for periods of school experience.
Students will monitor their progress through target-setting and evaluation within the Reflection and Evaluation of the Standards (RETS) documentation.
Module handbooks and other material made available to students will give more detailed information on the particular learning and teaching methodologies and themes within timetabled student sessions. This will clarify for students both their expectations for timetabled sessions, and their expectations for the overall balance of learning and teaching methodologies to be used during the module.
Placement handbooks and other very detailed materials made available to students will set out the requirements and expectations of school experience, including the maintenance of the teaching and learning file.
This course also gives you the option of taking a language module, which can count towards your degree. These modules cover multiple languages and range from absolute beginner to near-native speaker level. The cost of your language module is included in the tuition fees.
Eligible BA (Hons) Education graduates are guaranteed a one-year induction post that will enable you to achieve the standard required for full registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
UWS graduates have gone on to teach throughout Scotland, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and in other Commonwealth and EU countries.
The BA (Hons) Education is highly-regarded by employers outside of education, recognising the strong personal transferable skills that our graduates have developed.
Some graduates choose further study, leading to an MSc, PhD or teaching qualification.
We will always try to make sure that we publish accurate course information but we do not accept responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. We will also try to make sure that we deliver our courses in line with our published information. However, we may not always be able to do so and you can find further information about this in our enrolment terms and conditions.