Professional Education and Leadership

Entry requirements

A minimum of a second class Honours degree (2:1 preferred) or equivalent. Applicants without these formal qualifications but with significant appropriate/relevant work/life experience are encouraged to apply.

Students on the course must have access to, or be employed in an appropriate work environment, e.g. a school.

Please note, if you’re a student from overseas and applying with a Student visa, we unfortunately cannot accept your application for this course as it falls into the category of being part-time, delivered online or a distance learning course.

Months of entry

August

Course content

This Masters in Professional Education and Leadership is designed to impact directly on professional practices and pupils’ learning experiences and outcomes. The Professional Education and Leadership team in the Faculty of Social Sciences has worked in partnership with local authorities and other stakeholders over a number of years to develop this highly regarded professional education course.

This course draws upon current research to help you develop a critical, collaborative and enquiring approach to leading professional practice in the current policy context.

Building on the success and impact of previous courses, the modules you’ll take on this course take account of current policy and the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s (GTCS) Professional Standards framework (2012) providing the opportunity to practice leadership at all levels.

The benefits of this course do not just extend to participants but also to colleagues and the wider school community and will lead to the development of strong professional networks both within and beyond the course.

Individual routes

The following optional routes have been developed to meet your own professional learning interests and career aspirations.

• Advanced professional practice – aims to support your leadership development through critical engagement with research, policy and practice
• Middle leadership – aims to develop an understanding of the principles underpinning middle leadership through critical engagement with research, policy and practice.
• Curriculum – aims to support practitioners’ leadership development through critical engagement with curriculum theories and principles leading to changing practices and improvement in outcomes for children and young people in their setting and/or wider educational community
• Digital leadership – aims to help practitioners develop a critical overview of theories, principles and concepts of digital technologies in professional practices. This module is designed for students interested in how digital technologies and data are challenging and transforming professional and pedagogic practices and decision-making
• Coaching and mentoring – aims to support the leadership development of practitioners through using coaching and/or mentoring to support the professional growth of others in their setting and/or wider education community through critical engagement with research, policy and practice.
• Promoting equity - aims to help practitioners develop a critical understanding of the theories and principles of equity with regard to improvement in attainment, closing the attainment gap, health and wellbeing and employability through critical engagement with research, policy and practice.

Information for international students

If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:

• IELTS Indicator 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each sub-skill
• Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) 176 overall with a minimum of 169 in each sub-skill
• Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE) 180 overall with a minimum of 169 in each sub-skill
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) 62 overall with 60 in each sub-skill
• IBT TOEFL 80 overall with 18 in reading, 23 in writing, 19 in listening and 21 in speaking
• IBT TOEFL Special Home Edition Test 80 overall with 18 in reading, 23 in writing, 19 in listening and 21 in speaking
• Trinity ISE II Pass overall and Merit in all sub-skills, ISE III Pass overall and in all sub-skills, ISE IV Pass overall and in all sub-skills
• Aptis (4 skills) CEFR B2 overall and B2 in all sub-skills
• Duolingo 105 overall with a minimum of 95 in each sub-skill
• LanguageCert International ESOL B2 Communicator - Pass with minimum 33 in each sub-skill

If you are from India, Bangladesh, Ghana or Nigeria please also check your country/region specific page for any additional, or changes to, English language requirements.

For more information on ways that you can meet our English language requirements, including options to waive the requirement, please read our information on English language requirements.