About the Department of Education

Learn more about our Department of Education.

Department of Education

We pride ourselves on the high quality of professional support we provide all students within the Department of Education.

Ofsted results

Following a delayed Ofsted inspection in 2023, our Early Years Initial Teacher Education provision was ranked “outstanding” in all areas. Both Primary and Secondary Initial Teacher Education were ranked “good” overall, with an “outstanding” ranking for Leadership and Management in Secondary specifically.

Courses in Education

Our Primary and Early Years Education BA is for anyone wanting to become a teacher or work in other educational settings. This course is also an excellent springboard to further study. Successful graduates who meet the requirement for PGCE study are guaranteed an interview for our Primary PGCE course.

Our postgraduate taught degrees include the the International Education and Development MA, the Education MA and the Early Years Education MA. We also offer the Education PhD and International Education and Development PhD.

The multidisciplinary Childhood and Youth: Theory and Practice BA straddles not only the Department of Education and the Department of Social Work and Social Care, but also includes modules from the Departments of Anthropology and Sociology and the School of Psychology.

Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

We have a history of innovation for our teacher training courses. Over 50 years ago we pioneered the model of school-based teacher training, which has now been adopted by all training providers in England.

Trainee teachers have a number of routes into teaching to choose from, including the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and School Choice.

Explore our PGCE courses.

We also offer Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses for trainee teachers looking to boost their specialist subject knowledge.

Industry links and placements

Our undergraduate and postgraduate students can benefit from our links with over 100 institutions across the South East of England.

By taking placements as part of your course, you can gain real-world experience in the classroom before you graduate.

Find out more about our placements.

Experts in international education and development

Your studies at Sussex benefit from our faculty's renowned expertise in the area of international education and development.

Our Department hosts the Centre for International Education (CIE) – one of our Centres of Excellence – whose research has contributed to Sussex’s position as best in the world for Development Studies for the last seven years (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).

Teaching on our undergraduate and postgraduate courses is informed by our research within the CIE, and you can choose to focus on this area by taking:

Research in the Department of Education

Our research is characterised by:

  • cross-world understandings: spanning high, mid- and low-income countries
  • challenging hegemonies: Advancing theory and shaping debate in policy, research and practice
  • rigour and innovation in methodology: encompassing diverse quantitative and qualitative approaches to formative research and complex evaluation
  • making a difference: shaping research agendas and informing policy and practice development to drive improvements in educational and social outcomes.

Learn more about our Education research.

Contact

The School of Education and Social Work is based in Essex House at the University of Sussex campus. Find out how to get here.

Contact the School office: esw@sussex.ac.uk

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