BA (Hons) Primary Education
A three-year, online course designed for teaching assistants in schools in England who wish to become primary or prep school teachers.
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Course overview
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FIND OUT MOREAbout the course
This three-year BA degree course is designed for those working as teaching assistants in schools who wish to become primary or prep school teachers. To be a qualified teacher in England, you must have a degree and the most relevant degree to take is one in Education.
While the number of teachers in schools in England has remained steady over the past decade or so, the number of full-time equivalent TAs has more than trebled since 2000, from 79,000 to 262,800. Teaching assistants now comprise more than a quarter of the workforce in mainstream schools in England, rising to 35% in primary schools.
This degree has many significant advantages:
- It is designed to enable you to work in a paid job while taking the course.
- This is an online course, which enables you to do the work and complete tasks at times you can manage.
- The course materials are written by academics and leading primary school head teachers in England.
- The course is excellent value. Every student will need to find out whether their employer is happy to pay, or whether they will take a student loan.
- You will have your own University of Buckingham tutor, who will support you throughout the course.
- The degree course is integrated with your work because much of the study is based on you reflecting on your school and what happens there.
- For students living in England, the BA can be followed by the 12-month Qualified Teacher Status course at The University of Buckingham which is free of charge (at the time of writing) because it is paid, through your employer, by the apprenticeship levy. QTS is needed to teach in many schools in England.
In addition to your contracted hours of work, you should be able to commit approximately 10-12 hours per week to the necessary reading and writing for this course.
Part-time teaching assistants are welcome.
Overseas applicants should know that the course content is about primary schools in England only. You will not be eligible for the apprenticeship-funded QTS course but can apply for the International QTS course for which there is a fee.
Course Dates
Application deadline: Thursday 15 May 2025
Course Welcome Webinar: Monday 16 June 2025 (online)
Course Induction Webinar: Monday 23 June 2025 (online)
Course start date: Monday 23 June 2025
Course end date: July 2028
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Entry requirements
- You must be in employment in a primary school. Your school will need to write a letter supporting your application.
- You cannot have a university degree already.
- Two A-levels or equivalents (overseas qualifications must be checked through UK ENIC to show they are the same standard as British A-levels).
- Complete a successful interview with a member of the Faculty of Education.
- It is not a requirement for the BA (Hons) in Primary Education but to apply for a place on a QTS course in Primary, you must have evidence of GCSEs in English, Maths and Science at a C grade/ Level 4 or above.
- Overseas applicants must have a good standard of written English and have an IELTS score of 6.5 or above or have completed some of their education in English.
- Sixth formers who are taking A-Levels may apply. Any offer made will be conditional.
If you do not have two A-levels but, after interview, we feel you are strong enough to take the degree course, you have the option to take the Introduction to Academic Writing course. This online course will run from January 2025 for 12 weeks at a cost of £480. The course will focus on skills such as essay planning, drafting, and editing writing, critical thinking, paraphrasing, and referencing.
Without the required A-Levels, passing the Introduction to Academic Writing course will be a condition of joining the degree course. Please email Admissions to express your interest in this course: baprim-EDU@buckingham.ac.uk. Once you have agreed that this route would be helpful to you and you have agreed to pay the fee, we will send you an application form.
Teaching and assessment
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are 10 modules of 30 credits each, and a final 60 credit Enquiry module. The modules are:
- Child development 1 and the purposes of education
- School organisation and regulation and successful primary schools
- The science of learning and successful primary pupils
- The role of play and creativity in primary education
- Child development 2: barriers to learning, classroom culture and managing behaviour
- Early Years learning and an introduction to oracy and phonics
- Literacy and numeracy
- Foundation subjects and statutory RE
- Teaching primary science and assessment in primary schools
- Literacy and numeracy throughout the curriculum
- Enquiry module
You will study four of the above modules per year, using the online learning platform. You will access a range of learning materials to work through and you will be assessed based on three assignments per module. These assignments will be based on your study and require you to link this to your in-school observations and experiences. The final Enquiry module is assessed will involve a longer, research-based assignment on an area of your choice from the programme. This will involve a literature review of 2,000 words and a research project of 6,000 words, written over two terms.
After your course
If you live in England, after the BA you could proceed directly onto The University of Buckingham’s one-year apprenticeship-levy funded online teacher training course, which leads to Qualified Teacher Status. For this, there is no charge to you (unless the new government change regulations). If you do not live in England, you can take an alternative Qualified Teacher Training course with Buckingham for which there will be a fee.
Course fees
The fees for this course are:
| Start | Type | 1st Year | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
Month Year Full-time (2 Years) | UK | £00,000 | £00,000 |
| INT | £00,000 | £00,000 | |
Month Year Full-time (2 Years) | UK | £00,000 | £00,000 |
| INT | £00,000 | £00,000 |
The University reserves the right to increase course fees annually in line with inflation linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). If the University intends to increase your course fees it will notify you via email of this as soon as reasonably practicable.
Course fees do not include additional costs such as books, equipment, writing up fees and other ancillary charges. Where applicable, these additional costs will be made clear.
For information on fees, please contact baprim-EDU@buckingham.ac.uk
A non-refundable registration fee of £300 is also payable.
There is a limit to the numbers on this course so please apply well in advance of the application deadline.
Bursaries and scholarships are available on application.
How to apply
Apply direct
Apply online from this page as:
- The most flexible option.
- You can apply until shortly before the course starts.
You can apply directly through our website by clicking the ‘Apply now’ button below.
If you have any questions you can contact The Faculty of Education by email: baprim-EDU@buckingham.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)1280 820 222.