Primary Education
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths C (or 4), English Language or English Literature C (or 4).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
T Level
Minimum grade C in the Core Component.
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About this course
Our BA Primary Education (QTS) programme is specifically designed to enable students to develop a strong identity as a primary teacher.
The BA Primary Education (QTS) programme has been designed to enable students to develop a strong identity as a primary teacher.
Throughout your three years with us, you will undertake core and optional modules. All your modules are carefully aligned to develop and nurture your enthusiasms and ambitions. You will leave the course with a strong identity as a beginner teacher with the scope to further develop into an educator of the future.
In your first year, you are introduced to teaching and learning within specialist Art, Music, English and/or Mathematics modules. In your professional and core subject lectures, you will start to understand and unpick the nature of teaching in primary schools and the primary curriculum. You will be placed in a Key Stage 1 classroom and your work will be assessed through coursework, presentations and in some cases, practical workshops.
In your second year, you will continue to develop a greater depth of understanding of how children learn through your chosen optional modules. In the professional and core subject lectures, you will unpack the progression of ideas in all areas of the primary curriculum. Your placement will be in a Key Stage 2 classroom and your work will be assessed through course work, presentations and in some cases, practical workshops.
Your final year continues to develop your understanding of early leadership in a chosen subject through the optional modules. Your placement will be in either Key Stage 1 or 2 and your final year dissertation will investigate an area of education research that you are interested in. Your professional and core lectures will focus on issues of inclusion within primary education.
This course will enable you to get a job as a primary school teacher following graduation. There is a high demand for primary school teachers and many of our graduates are offered jobs before they have finished the course. Furthermore, we are ranked 9th in the UK for Education (The Guardian University Guide 2023).
**Climate and sustainability education**
At the University of Reading we believe that climate and sustainability education is everyone’s responsibility. This is why we have set out our vision that all initial teacher trainees should be able to access training that empowers them to effectively incorporate climate education within their teaching across all levels and subjects as part of our National Climate Education Action Plan.
Across all of our ITT programmes at the Institute of Education, you will learn about:
- what is happening to our climate, how to help children learn about climate and sustainability in an age-appropriate and accessible way, and how to develop your own positioning as a teacher
- climate justice, the impact of current and future changes to our environment and climate on ourselves and others and implications for teachers
- how to translate knowledge and theory into change and personal action through building climate and sustainability education into your planning, teaching, and children’s learning.
Modules
The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change.
Core modules for this course:
Professional Studies and School Placement 1;
English in the Primary Curriculum 1;
Mathematics and Computing in the Primary Curriculum;
Teaching Practical Sessions in Science, Design Technology, Art and Physical Education;
Global Inclusion and Social Justice for Education;
Professional Studies and School Placement 2;
English in the Primary Curriculum 2;
Mathematics and Science in the Primary Curriculum;
The Foundation Subjects in the Primary Classroom 1;
Professional Studies, Research and School Placement 3;
Refining Pedagogy in Core Subjects: English, Mathematics & Science;
Mental and Physical Health - Psychology of Education;
The Foundation Subjects in the Primary Classroom 2.
The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available between May and July 2023. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Reading
Institute of Education
What students say
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Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
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After graduation
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What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
The stats above mainly cover teaching degrees for training and qualifying in primary school education. These tend to be three or four-year courses — check with course tutors about how long you will need to study to get your Qualified Teacher Status. Most graduates go into teaching roles — usually primary school teaching, so these courses have good employment rates and starting salaries. We have a shortage of teachers of all kinds, which is deepening, and whilst many of the most severe are at secondary level, the prospects for this degree are not likely to take a downturn any time soon.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Teacher training
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£26k
£31k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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