Education

Education

Education is one of the most powerful means for change and growth in the modern world. If you’re interested in the psychology, politics or social and cultural contexts of education and learning, you can study it on our Education course.

Admissions overview at Downing College  

Why study Education at Cambridge?

Education at Cambridge allows you to study the meaning, purpose, and effects of education and learning. In the 21st century, education is a central concern that affects the lives of everyone around the world.

On this interdisciplinary course, you will examine how education shapes individuals and society through study across the Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Politics) and the Arts and Humanities (Philosophy, Literature and Drama).

Course Overview

In global contexts, from early childhood to lifelong learning, or through literature and the arts, we work across broad areas that provide continuity from prior study to degree level:

• Education and Philosophy
• Education and Psychology
• Education and Social Justice
• Education, Literature and Drama

You will have the chance to specialise and develop your own interests beginning in your second year, refining in your final year. Throughout the course, you will engage with some of the most pressing issues facing education today.

You can expect to be taught by experts in the field of:

• Disability and inclusion
• Drama, performance and theatre
• Education policy and practice
• International development
• Psychology and learning
• Social Justice
• Sociology of Education
• Research methods
• Popular culture and media
• AI and Technology in Education and Society 
• Philosophy of education

You will develop the following skills:

• how to think, converse, present, and write in a scholarly rigorous way
• how to pose urgent questions and conduct independent inquiry
• how to engage deeply in the close reading of texts
• how to collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data to develop arguments
• how to engage perceptively with relevant academic sources
• how to use drama-based methods as a means of inquiry

Facilites and resources 

The Faculty of Education has a range of facilities, including: 

• a comprehensive library with robust services and compelling education archives
• informal study spaces for collaborating and socialising
• access to drama rehearsal and performance spaces at Homerton College

You'll also have access to our impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries.

Why study Education at Downing?

 

Teaching 

Teaching is provided through lectures, seminars and small-group supervisions.  

You will usually have 4 to 6 lectures and seminars, and one or two hours of small-group supervisions each week. 

Assessment

You’ll be assessed at the end of each year. Depending on the papers studied, this will be through practical work, coursework, written examination, or a combination of these.  

In the third year, you will also be assessed through your dissertation. 

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams. 

Year 1 (Part I) 

You take 4 compulsory papers: 

• Introduction to Education Systems and Disciplines 
• Learning and Human Development 
• Education, Creativity and Culture 
• Education and Social Justice 

These papers will provide you with a strong foundation to support you in a range of more specialist options in your second and third years. 

Year 2 (Part IIA) 

 You take 2 compulsory papers: 

• Designing Educational Research 
• Literature Review 

These papers will provide you with the foundations of Education research, in preparation for your dissertation in the third year. 

You also choose 2 more papers which will build on what you studied in your first year. You can choose your own pathway through these papers which will continue into your third year.  

You may choose to specialise in: 

• Education and Philosophy
• Education and Psychology 
• Education and Social Justice 
• Education, Literature and Drama 

If you don’t want to specialise, you can choose a range of papers that interest you.

Examples of papers that may be offered include:

• Children’s Literature 
• Modernity, Globalisation and Education 
• Theatre: Text and Production 
• Studies in Educational Ideas
• Educational utopias and dystopias
• Formal and Informal Contexts of Learning 
• Critical approaches to Disability 
• AI and Technology in Education and Society
• Performance, Education and Society 

Year 3 (Part IIB) 

You take 4 papers:  

• a compulsory dissertation of 8,000 to 10,000 words which will allow you to pursue a research project into a relevant area of particular interest to you 
• 3 more papers from a list of options, so you can study what interests you the most 

Examples of papers that may be offered include: 

• Children’s Literature 
• Modernity, Globalisation and Education 
• Theatre: Text and Production 
• Education, Neuroscience and Society 
• Studies in Educational Ideas
• Formal and Informal Contexts of Learning
• Play, Creativities and Imagination 
• AI and Technology in Education and Society 
• Performance, Education and Society 
• Educational utopias and dystopias

For further information about this course and the papers you can take see the Faculty of Education website.

Careers after studying Education

Our graduates go on to careers in: 

• theatre, media, and the performing arts
• educational research 
• educational psychology and neuroscience 
• teaching 
• communication
• publishing 
• journalism 
• law 
• educational leadership 
• the Civil Service 
• government policy and administration 
• heritage and museum education 
• human resources 
• business and consultancy 
• charities and non-government organisations 
• international development

What Education students have studied

According to the University, most Education students (who had studied A levels and started at Cambridge in 2018, 2019 and 2023) had studied at least one of: 

• English (language or literature) 
• History 
• Languages (ancient or modern) 
• Social science subjects

The rest had usually taken at least one of:

• Ancient History, Classical Civilisation, Economics, Further Mathematics, Geography, Politics, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, sciences (Biology, Chemistry or Physics) or Sociology.
• Mathematics
• Psychology

How can you find out more about Education?

Further information about the Education BA course can be found on the Univerity of Cambridge website.