Postgraduate Certificate in Education

The overall purpose of the postgraduate certificate in education is to deepen and refine your capacity for critical reflection on your practice as well as on the mental models which inform your work. Systematic inquiry is therefore an organising principle that underpins all modules on the programme, and you will be encouraged to identify issues that are significant to you and your organisation. 

The Postgraduate Certificate in Education is a unique modular and flexible programme designed to reflect the needs of individuals or organisational cohorts. While each module has its own particular focus, all are concerned with investigating contemporary educational issues in the light of economic and social contexts, appropriate literature and the shared experience of course members.

Note: Please note that the Postgraduate Certificate in Education is an academic qualification, not a teaching qualification, and therefore does not offer Qualified Teacher Status in the UK.

Why choose this course?

• As a school, we are committed to improving and investigating transformative and effective practices in Education. You will study in a supportive, dynamic and inclusive environment with an international team from across the globe. Many of our colleagues are research active with ongoing national and international research grants. 

Course content

• The Postgraduate Certificate in Education requires candidates to complete taught modules with a total value of 60 credits, including the 30-credit core module Practice Based Inquiry. This is the only compulsory module.
• For the remainder of the credits, you can choose from any of the School of Education’s other postgraduate taught modules, any Educational Leadership and Management (ELM) module, any Special and Inclusive Education (SIE) module and any TESOL module.
• Each 30-credit module is assessed by a written assignment of 6,000 words (or equivalent).
• To complete the programme successfully, a pass of 50 must be achieved on each assignment.

Typical core modules
Practice Based Inquiry

• The content will involve you in active critical consideration of participating in and leadership of practitioner inquiry in relation to professional context mapping and workplace learning.

These processes will be achieved through:

• Conceptualising different kinds of practitioner inquiry relevant to work-based understanding and development (purposes, processes, contexts, dilemmas, outcomes).
• Examining a range of approaches to educational inquiry, with an emphasis on action research.
• Developing an inquiry into your professional context.

Typical optional modules

Critical Perspective in Curriculum and Pedagogy

• This module critically examines contemporary debates surrounding orthodoxies in curriculum, learning and assessment in schools, and how these relate to policy and practice.
• In particular, it considers the way different orthodoxies frame what children and young people learn in schools, how they learn and how assessment practices inform learning processes. The module will explore these orthodoxies in terms of their origins and purposes and it will consider alternative models from an international perspective.
• The module starts by considering the history, politics and ideology of the curriculum as it currently exists. It then develops understanding through application of psychological, social and cultural theories of learning and assessment. These theorised views of schooling and classroom practices enable us to analyse and critique the wide-ranging policy and research discussions about curriculum, learning and assessment that are currently underway.
• You will be engaged in considering how developments of, and alternatives to, current practices will impact learning and teaching in the future.

Learning Theories for a Digital Age

• This module looks at how people learn and how learning is supported in a digital age. It explores current and historical theories of learning and how they inform the design of learning technologies. It will help you understand the potential of digital technology for learning in a variety of contexts (such as schools, colleges, workplaces, museums, both face-to-face and online) and help you develop an ability to critically reflect on examples of learning technologies in current use.

Social Contexts of Learning

• This module focuses on how people learn together in pairs, teams, small groups, the classroom, or an informal community. It works through classical and modern theories of social learning, explaining the social aspects of almost any type of learning and mechanisms that boost the power of learning together. 
• Equipped with these theories, it explores the various technologies mediating and supporting social learning, such as social media, participation in the World Wide Web, online communities, online communication platforms and virtual reality.

Leading Learning
The module will address the essential features of effective learning, as relevant to your sector by examining:

• The process of learning.
• Supporting learning (for example, through adults, peers and technology) both within and beyond the educational organisation.
• An overview of approaches to improvement and raising achievement in educational organisations.
• Monitoring and evaluation of learning: the use of data, target-setting, monitoring.

Entry requirements

• All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.
• A relevant second class honours degree (or international equivalent). Relevant experience may be required for some of the modules. Non-UK qualifications will be assessed against this standard.
• If deemed necessary, applicants may also be required to attend an interview.
• Malaysians applying as a matured student without the standard entry requirements but with substantial and relevant work experience (and have successfully passed APEL’s assessment through Malaysian Qualifications Agency) at an appropriate level may be considered. Admission is at the discretion of the School.
• Applicants must have graduated from an approved university. Other equivalent qualifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Entry requirements in the prospectus and website may not always apply and individual offers may vary.

English Language Requirements

IELTS (Academic):

• 6.5 (with no less than 6.0 in each element)

TOEFL (iBT):

• 90 (minimum 19 in Writing and Listening, 20 in Reading and 22 in Speaking)

PTE (Academic):

• 71 (with no less than 65 in each element)

MUET:

• Band 4.5
• IELTS, TOEFL and PTE (Academic) test results must be less than two years old and all IELTS must be the academic version of the test. MUET results are valid for five years from the date of the release of results.