Sociology of Education MA

The Sociology of Education MA will guide students through the latest theories, concepts and research in the sociology of education, exploring the wider political, social and cultural contexts of policy and practice in education. It will encourage them to use sociological research to reflect on their current and future roles in education and provide them with a grounding for evaluating education practice.

Key information

Please note

Unless otherwise indicated, the information on this page relates to September 2019 entry. The information for September 2020 entry will be launching in the online Graduate Prospectus shortly. Applications for most postgraduate taught programmes will open 1 November 2019.

Programme starts

September 2019

Modes and duration

Full time: 1 year

Part time: 2 years

Flexible: up to 5 years

Application dates

All applicants

Open: 15 October 2018

Close: 26 July 2019

Tuition fees (2019/20)

UK/EU: £8,680 (FT) £4,470 (PT)

Overseas: £18,790 (FT) £9,570 (PT)

Note on fees: The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website. Fees for flexible, modular study are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session.

Location: London, Bloomsbury

Entry requirements

A minimum of a second-class Bachelor's degree from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard in sociology or a related discipline is required. Some educational experience in either teaching or administration is considered an advantage.

English language requirements

If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency.

The English language level for this programme is: Good

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

International students

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

Visa information

This programme is suitable for international students on a Tier 4 visa - study must be full-time, face-to-face, starting October.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below.

Select your country:

International equivalencies

Students will develop critical theoretical, methodological and analytical skills in educational research in the sociology of education field and learn to apply them in their own professional context.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.

The programme consists of two core modules (60 credits), two optional modules (60 credits), and a dissertation (60 credits) or a report (30 credits) plus one further optional module (30 credits).

Compulsory modules

Sociology of Education

This module aims to identify and explore some of the major perspectives in the sociology of education, bringing together a team of experts to explore a range of contemporary issues in this exciting and diverse field. We explore the relationships between education, society, the state and the individual, and consider how forces like globalisation and marketisation are impacting education. We pay particular attention to educational (in)equalities relating to social class, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, migration and citizenship. Over the course of the module you will discover how key theorists and bodies of research in sociology of education can help us to better understand and respond to pressing educational issues. This module can be taken face-to-face or online, and is available as a standalone module.

Understanding Education Research

This module will provide participants with an introduction to a range of research approaches and methods. They will also be able to engage in specialist issues and look in detail at sourcing, generating and analysing specific kinds of extant and new research content. These will include autobiographies, biographies, documents, interviews, life histories, media and multi-media texts, narratives, observations, oral histories, philosophical arguments, statistics and conceptual analysis, photographs and other visual representations, statistics and numeric data. Reading of original source texts of key studies will provide participants with the opportunity to interrogate the changing and contested nature of education research.

The module is designed to be both multi- and inter-disciplinary, exposing all students to approaches to research from across the foundation disciplines of history, philosophy and sociology. Participants will be invited to explore the sorts of questions that might be asked, and answered, by education research. Moving on, we will think about the implications of these questions for designing research as well as engaging, or even influencing education policy and practice. The role of the researcher, her/his relationship with the researched, and the ethical dimensions of this will be key considerations.

Dissertation or Report

Optional modules

Students can choose optional modules from the list below and from a wide range of Master's-level optional modules across the IOE offering, subject to availability.

Sociology of Race and Education

This module provides an introduction to the principal research findings and theories concerning 'race' and ethnicity in education. Although these are mainly drawn from sociological work, no previous experience of sociology is necessary. Among the issues we address are: the nature of race/racism in schools and classrooms; patterns of educational achievement; the role of education policy; a critical awareness of the nature of Whiteness; and the intersections of race, class, gender and other elements of identity and oppression.

The main focus of the module will be research, policy and practice in the English system but you will be encouraged to apply insights and draw on your own experiences wherever you work and/or were educated. The module draws on the insights from antiracism and critical race theory alongside a range of other theoretical perspectives.

Gender, Sexuality and Education

The module aims to encourage a critical examination of key debates concerning theory, research and practice in the field of gender and education. The module will engage with a number of key debates in the field, including: feminist theory and methodologies in educational research; analysing gender and educational policies; researching sexualities, femininities and masculinities; pedagogical approaches; gendered behaviour; educational achievement and more. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding how gender, sexuality, race and class intersect in shaping educational experiences and outcomes.

The module will draw out important issues relating to professional practice in international contexts, providing teachers, researchers, leaders and managers, and those working in non-government organisations a forum for investigating their own interests in the field of gender and education.

Rights and Education

This module aims to introduce participants to a range of human rights issues in education. The module begins by exploring the origins of international human rights, and developing a critical analytical understanding of theories and perspectives on contemporary human rights discourse and politics. This is followed by a consideration of the right to education and approaches to equity in the context of globalisation. The second part of the module focuses on a critical examination of educational policy contexts with regard to rights, equity and discrimination, focusing on class, gender, race, disability and sexuality.

Theoretical Foundations of Educational Ideas

This module invites students to explore education theory and policy through the lenses of history, philosophy and sociology. The module takes up questions of inequality and social justice in education and encourages students to consider these through a range of conceptual lenses.

Students work in specialist and cross-disciplinary groups to assess the different insights offered by particular perspectives; explore the compatibilities and tensions in and across disciplines; and consider the contribution offered by inter-disciplinary approaches. The model invites students to explore key debates over the meaning and nature of social justice in education, debates that intersect with questions about the person, society, education and knowledge.

Participants are introduced to key concepts such as citizenship, diversity, equality, globalization, hegemony, authenticity, inclusion, liberalism, power, the state and subjectivity and invited to consider the usefulness of these concepts for making sense of education policy and practice.

Students are able to pursue these explorations by engaging a range of formal and informal educational sites and local and national contexts. An inter-disciplinary team of contributors facilitate learning in lectures and small groups.

Understanding Education Policy

This module is designed to cover key perspectives and concepts in the analysis of education policy. Topics covered include approaches to understanding education policy and its relevance and import to practitioners. We consider global developments in educational policy (such as marketization, choice of school, private sector involvement in public education) and consider the forms such developments take in England and Wales and elsewhere. The module also provides an in-depth look at some current policies and considers future directions.

Minorities, Migrants and Refugees in National Education Systems

Maintaining the identity and stability of states with multi-ethnic and multilingual populations has been a major aim of national educational systems all over the world for at least the last hundred years. How this has been done, what models there are to choose from, and how education systems can be changed to meet the needs of minorities, migrants and refugees are some of the principal concerns of this module.

This module's main focus is on how state education systems define and deal with 'the other' within the current political context across Europe, America and Asia. The main groups considered are national minorities, migrants, and refugees but other groups such as Roma, travellers and indigenous peoples will be discussed as well. The module has various aims: (1) to examine the origin of cultural diversity and its relation with nationalism and nation-building (2) to explore the range of policies adopted in different historical and geographical contexts to deal with such diversity and the response of minority groups to these policies (3) to assess the applicability of sociological theories on cultural diversity for education and multicultural schools.

Higher Education: Comparative and International Perspectives

Currently policies and practices affecting higher education (HE) around the world are strongly influenced by factors which derive from outside the relevant domestic context. Specifically, the forces of globalisation, technological change and of the influences of cross-national agencies have radically changed the frames within which HE policy makers and providers now operate within. This module sets out to investigate, analyse and critique the nature of these influences through the adoption of a perspective derived from the fields of comparative and international studies of HE. The module is compulsory for all course members of the MA in Higher and Professional Education but is also available to other UCL Institute of Education MA students with interest and involvement in the content.

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

Dissertation/report

All students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of 20,000 words or a report of 10,000 words.

Fieldwork

Some fieldwork is normally undertaken in relation to research for the dissertation module.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a mix of face-to-face Saturday and evening sessions and interactive online learning. Sometimes a conventional lecture-based approach is taken, with the aim of providing an overview of the field. Lectures are usually followed by open discussion or group work. At other times a seminar format is adopted involving, for example, group discussion of set reading, a video or an introductory presentation.

Assessment is through coursework essay assignments, plus submission of a report or dissertation.

Additional costs

You may be required to apply for Disclosure and Barring Service clearance if your research requires work with children or vulnerable adults.

Scholarships relevant to this department are displayed below.

Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS)

Note:: Now closed for 2019/20
Value:: Full fees, flights, stipend, and other allowances (1 year)
Eligibility:: Overseas
Criteria:: Based on both academic merit and financial need

IOE Centenary Masters Scholarships

Note:: Deadline is 5 April 2019
Value:: Accommodation plus tuition fees (1 year)
Eligibility:: Overseas

GREAT-UCL India Scholarship

Note:: Nominations have now been submitted
Value:: Full tuition fees (1 year)
Eligibility:: Overseas
Criteria:: Based on academic merit

IOE Fulbright

Note:: Now closed for 2019/20
Eligibility:: Overseas

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

Graduates of this programme are currently working as lecturers and teachers, local authority officers, government department officers, members of education think tanks, or as research students (MPhil/PhD, EdD).

Employability

Students develop a capacity to critically engage with and conduct educational research on issues relating to sociology and education.

The Department of Education, Practice and Society at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is home to an interdisciplinary grouping bringing together high-quality teaching and research in the history, sociology and philosophy of education, international development, post-compulsory and vocational education and higher education.

The Sociology of Education MA is a cutting-edge programme taught by world-leading sociologists within the department who have expertise in research methods, policy analysis, equality and human rights: issues of gender, 'race', sexuality, youth, disability and social class.

Students gain invaluable networking opportunities with leading scholars and a cohort of internationally diverse students across the IOE's MA cluster in sociology, social justice and policy studies in education.

Department: Education, Practice & Society

Applications

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £75 for online applications and £100 for paper applications. Further information can be found at: www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/taught/application.

Who can apply?

This programme is suited to social science and humanities graduates, policy analysts, teachers (including newly qualified teachers), community or adult educators, and others with an interest in the sociology of education.

Application deadlines

All applicants: 26 July 2019

For more information see our Applications page.

Apply now

What are we looking for?

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

why you want to study Sociology of Education at graduate level
why you want to study Sociology of Education at UCL
what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
how your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme
where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.