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Education

UCAS Code
See below for detailed list
Typical Offers Require

A Level: A*AA IB: 40-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level

Applicants for Education should take at least one A-level or IB Higher Level subject that is relevant to some aspect of the Education Tripos. 'Relevant' subjects might include social science and/or essay-based subjects, e.g. English Literature, English Language and Literature, Sociology, Psychology and/or History.

Education at Cambridge 

Education is the study of human development and transformation in all its forms and contexts: from the individual mind to the social and political processes taking place within communities, institutions and global networks to the cultural encounters that shape ideas, beliefs and imaginations. Our course allows you to explore these themes across academic disciplines, or develop specialist knowledge in areas such as psychology, international development, or literature and theatre. Creativity, contemporary research and global dimensions are key to this critical understanding and the programme has a particular focus on nurturing independent, reflexive inquiry through the development of critical research skills.

Facilities and resources 

The Faculty of Education has excellent resources and facilities within a purpose-built building, designed to support teaching, learning and research. There is a library that houses an extensive collection of material on education and related fields. Active research forms the foundation of our teaching so you're taught by academics at the forefront of their fields, who specialise in cutting-edge research.

Further study and professional qualifications

Our course provides excellent preparation for a wide range of Masters and doctoral research programmes, both at Cambridge and elsewhere.

Alternatively, for those intending to teach, the course provides a foundation from which to proceed to initial teacher training in primary education.

After Cambridge 

The career options for graduates are extremely varied and they find employment in a wide range of occupations in the UK and abroad. As well as further study and teaching, our students have gone into research, educational psychology and neuroscience, publishing, and the Civil Service. Others now work in government policy and administration, the media, theatre, heritage and museum education, HR, business and consultancy, charities and NGOs, and international development. 

Course outline

Year 1 (Part IA) 

You take four compulsory papers, which together will engage you with elements of history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, literature and the arts, drawing on scholarship from the UK and a range of international contexts, which will provide a strong foundation to support you in a range of more specialist options in Part II.

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

Year 2 (Part I1A) 

In Year 2, you take four papers. Two are compulsory, and are designed to provide you with the foundations of Education research, in preparation for the dissertation in Part IIB.

  • Designing Educational Research
  • Dissertation: Literature Review

You will then choose two further papers from a list designed to build on the core foundations provided in Part I. You will have the opportunity to design your own pathway, which can be pursued further in Part IIB. You may choose to specialise, for example in psychology, literature or international development. Alternatively, you may select papers which allow you to pursue your interests across a range of disciplines. For examples of the papers which may be offered, please see Part IIB.

Year 3 (Part II) 

In Year 3, you take four 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, and three further papers from a list of options, again designed to give you the flexibility to pursue your interests, whether these are specialist or more general. Examples of papers which may be offered include:

  • Language, Communication and Literacies
  • Children’s Literature
  • Modernity, Globalisation and Education
  • Theatre: Text and Production
  • Education, Neuroscience and Society
  • Formal and Informal Contexts of Learning
  • Changing Landscapes of Childhood and Youth: History, Experience and Culture
  • Critical Debates in Education and International Development
  • Case Studies in Education, Policy and International Development
  • Towards a Transnational Sociology of Education: Space, Power and Politics
  • Play, Creativities and Imagination
  • International Literatures and Cultures
  • Performance, Education and Society

For further information about studying Education at the University of Cambridge, see the Faculty of Education website.

Written Work

Candidates will be asked to send in two recent pieces of written work that you feel accurately reflect your interests and abilities. These should be example essays from any A level (or equivalent) subject that you have done during the normal course of your studies and marked by your class teacher, and do not need to be directly related to Education. 

Admission Assessment

No assessment required

Director of Studies – Dr Elizabeth Rawlinson-Mills

For incoming 1st year students, the following reading list will be helpful: Education Reading List

Last updated April 2023