MEd Professional Development in Education
Course Overview
Education is fundamental to the future of our young people and the success of our economy. The need for highly trained, passionate and multi-skilled educationalists has never been greater. Aimed at existing education professionals, this course allows you to tailor your studies to meet your individual professional development needs. With a choice of modules covering key areas in education, you can access the knowledge required to achieve higher levels of responsibility and greater satisfaction in your work.We aim to help you develop an enhanced and critical awareness of current key issues in the education sector, as well as your knowledge and understanding of the principles and theories that underpin best practice in education. As well as reflecting on your own professional practice, we’ll encourage and guide you in formulating creative solutions to complex educational problems.
Our highly experienced and research active team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research evaluation skills and apply these during your independent master’s-level project. You’ll also have the chance to develop enhanced key skills in line with your personal and professional development needs; for instance, team working and leadership, problem solving, autonomy and professional accountability.
Highlights
- This flexible course allows you to choose modules that match your professional development needs.
- Our students are drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds – sharing the individual and unique educational insights and perspectives of your peers help to enrich your learning experience.
- We promote research and critical enquiry helping you learn to make sound, evidence-based independent judgements.
- You can explore the diversity of educational practice and learn how to balance subject knowledge, theoretical perspectives and professional best practice with creativity and originality in your own classroom and organisation.
- Intensive use of learning technologies and multimedia resources, such as virtual learning environments and eLearning tools, enhance your ICT skills and raise your awareness of resources from across the educational spectrum.
Key Features
- Our team of highly experienced, enthusiastic and dedicated experts offer face-to-face and blended sessions as well as one-to-one support.
- We embed the concepts and practice of inter-professional working throughout the programme.
- Our academic team is actively involved in educational research, helping you to explore issues from a robust research-informed knowledge base.
- Our well-stocked library offers a comprehensive selection of relevant texts and access to an extensive online database of multimedia sources including eJournals, podcasts, vodcasts and eBooks.
- By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
Entry Requirements
- Normally, you’ll have at least an Upper Second Class (2.1) Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject, and appropriate work experience.
- An initial qualification in teaching, if this is not formally part of your first degree, is desirable and experience in the education sector is strongly advised because you’ll need to critically reflect on your experience and relate theory to practice.
- Your application form must be accompanied by a 250-word reflective statement. Your statement should include information about your professional teaching experience and the area(s) you wish to research during your master's-level project.
- Two references highlighting your potential to produce master’s level (level 7) academic work will be required. In particular, we need information about your professional teaching experience, so please encourage your referees to provide this information if they are able to.
- We may wish to interview you as part of the application process. This may be on an open day, over the telephone or via video conferencing.
- The dissertation module, EDM7070, offers course members the opportunity to undertake an in-depth investigation of an educational topic or issue that is of particular interest and relevance to their professional work and development. It is crucial that you have access to a person, or persons, who will act as participants for the research.
- We'll also consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
- If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Career Opportunities
The MEd Professional Development in Education course is an advanced course that focuses on the professional development needs of experienced educationalists. This course offers you the opportunity to develop a range of in-depth skills that are valuable in a number of management and senior roles in education.
A master’s course at the University of Bolton will also help you to develop a range of career-enhancing skills in addition to your subject-specific knowledge and understanding. These include interpersonal skills, research skills, oral and written skills, independent working, and time management skills.
What can I do with this qualification?
Alternative career options
Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping-stone to enter a range of other careers, and for some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Some of these careers include:
- Non profit organisations
- Social work
- Educational specialist
- Curriculum sales
- Education policy development
- Private school consultation
- Corporate training
Fees & Funding
Please note the total course fee for a Home student starting this course in 2023/24 will be £7,920. As this is an 18-month course, the fees are £5,280 for the first year and £2,640 for the final semester.
Home/EU Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
International Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
Bursaries
Click here for more information on our Master's Bursaries.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
-
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
-
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
-
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
-
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
-
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk
-
Apply online: University of Bolton MEd Professional Development in Education - 27 January 2025
-
Apply online: University of Bolton MEd Professional Development in Education - 22 September 2025
International Applicants
Thank you for your interest
In order to determine your suitability for this course as an international student and also to confirm you meet any initial eligibility criteria, we need you to answer a few short questions.
Teaching & Assessment
This course is designed to help you develop and build on your current knowledge and experience as an education practitioner. Experience and practice underpinned by informed research are valued and drawn upon throughout.
We’ll use a wide variety of teaching and learning strategies on this course. These may include lectures, presentations, seminars, workshops, collaborative discussion and group work, debates and tutorials. You can also expect a range of assessment methods, such as essays, reports, presentations, portfolios and course work. Your learning journey will be supported by the intensive use of technology and multimedia resources.
Personal and independent study is essential and you should expect to devote a significant amount of time to the course.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- Policy and Curriculum Development
- Critical Enquiry and Reflection
- Dissertation
- Leading Learning Communities
- Inclusive Practice
- Advanced Coaching
- Equality in Education
- Advanced Mentoring
- Postgraduate Research Degree Supervision
- Leading Educational Change
- Theories of Action in Teaching and Learning in Primary, Secondary and Further Education
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Coursework 100% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 84% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 16% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
