University of Cambridge · Undergraduate
BA (Hons) Education Bachelor's degree at the University of Cambridge
BA (Hons) Education at University of Cambridge. Education at Cambridge asks you to look beyond the classroom and think about what education actually means, across childhood and into adulthood.
BA (Hons)
Award
3
Years
Full-time
Study mode
75%
in work/study (15m)
About this course
Explore what education means in childhood and beyond, the development of the mind and learning in different socioeconomic and political contexts. From the provider’s course page.
BA (Hons) Education is a Bachelor's degree (BA (Hons)) at the University of Cambridge. It runs 3 years, studied full-time.
For Education graduates from this provider, 75% were in work or further study 15 months after graduating, 90% in highly skilled roles, typical earnings around £26,000. (HESA Graduate Outcomes / LEO, via Discover Uni.)
For the typical curriculum, specialisations, career paths and graduate earnings for Education & Teaching, see the sections below.
Course evidence score
The arithmetic mean of the official measures available for this course: NSS satisfaction, graduate activity and continuation.
8.7
/ 10
Excellent
3 of 3 official measures
Student satisfaction
What students say in the National Student Survey
Excellent86
Published threshold met NSS publication requires sufficient responses; small differences are not a rank. NSS mean of 7 published themes (Discover Uni snapshot 2026-06-21)
Graduate outcomes
In work or further study 15 months after graduating
Strong75
Limited evidence Published sample: 10; treat comparisons cautiously. Cohort 2021-23. Graduate Outcomes work or further study 75% (2021-23; Discover Uni snapshot 2026-06-21)
Continuation
Students who continue past their first year
Exceptional100
Published threshold met Discover Uni suppresses continuation data below its publication threshold. Cohort 2022-23. Continuation 100% (2022-23; Discover Uni snapshot 2026-06-21)
Curriculum & modules
Real modules published for this course, grouped only where the source gives a year, stage or level.
Year 1 (Part I) 4 modules
- Introduction to Education Systems and DisciplinesCompulsory
- Learning and Human DevelopmentCompulsory
- Education, Creativity and CultureCompulsory
- Education and Social JusticeCompulsory
Year 2 (Part IIA) 2 modules
- Designing Educational ResearchCompulsory
- Literature ReviewCompulsory
Modules 9 modules
- Children's LiteratureOptional
- Modernity, Globalisation and EducationOptional
- Theatre: Text and ProductionOptional
- Studies in Educational IdeasOptional
- Educational Utopias and DystopiasOptional
- Formal and Informal Contexts of LearningOptional
- Critical approaches to DisabilityOptional
- AI and Technology in Education and SocietyOptional
- Performance, Education and SocietyOptional
Year 3 (Part IIB) 3 modules
- Education, Neuroscience and SocietyOptional
- Play, Creativities and ImaginationOptional
- DissertationCompulsory
Module details
8,000 to 10,000 words which will allow you to pursue a research project into a relevant area of particular interest to you
Source: provider course page. Modules can change; required/optional status, credits, descriptions and assessment are shown only when explicitly published.
Course in depth
What this course covers, who it suits and where it leads.
What you'll study
The course structure moves from foundational understanding through to independent enquiry. You'll begin with core theory, building a grounding in the ideas that underpin how educationalists think about learning, development and schooling. Alongside this sits research & methods, where you learn the tools used to investigate educational questions rigorously, whether that's through interviews, surveys, observation or data analysis. Applied practice gives you the chance to connect theory to real settings, testing ideas against how education actually functions for learners and institutions. As you progress, you can explore specialist options, such as topics that let you follow particular interests within the wider field of education, deepening your knowledge in areas that matter to you. The degree culminates in an independent project, where you take ownership of a question and pursue it in depth, drawing together the theory and methods skills built earlier in the course. Running throughout is attention to professional skills, helping you build the practical competencies that translate academic study into work beyond university, whatever direction that takes.
Who it's for
This course suits people who are curious about how learning actually works, not just interested in teaching as a job. If you find yourself asking why some children thrive in one school system and struggle in another, or why educational outcomes vary so much between different social and economic groups, you'll find plenty to get your teeth into here. It rewards a genuine interest in reading widely, in psychology and sociology as much as in education specifically, and a willingness to sit with questions that don't have neat answers. You should be comfortable with independent study and be prepared to think critically about systems you may have taken for granted, including your own schooling. Studying this will feel less like training for a specific role and more like building a rigorous, evidence-based understanding of a subject that touches almost everyone's life. It's a good fit for those who want to keep their options open after graduating, whether that means teaching, policy work, research or something else entirely, and who are drawn to a course grounded in serious academic enquiry rather than one focused narrowly on classroom technique.
Careers & job market
Nationally, across Education & Teaching courses, 90% of graduates are in work or further study 15 months after graduating, and 70% of those in work are in roles classed as highly skilled or are continuing their studies. These figures relate to the field nationally, via Graduate Outcomes data, rather than being specific to this course or a guarantee of any particular outcome. National earnings data (LEO) for graduates in this field show starting salaries, measured 15 months after graduation, ranging from £22,000 to £30,000. Looking further ahead, national figures show earnings of £17,850 to £25,200 after three years and £21,250 to £30,000 after five years. These ranges reflect the spread of outcomes across the whole national graduate population in this field, not fixed figures tied to any individual or institution, and they can vary considerably depending on the specific role and sector a graduate moves into. Separately, national data show that 85% of students in this field continue past their first year, either still enrolled or having completed their studies.
University & format
The University of Cambridge, founded in 1209, is a public university and a member of the Russell Group, a group of research-intensive institutions. It has around 18,977 students in total. The university holds a Gold rating in the Office for Students' TEF 2023 for teaching quality and is. This BA (Hons) Education course (UCAS code X300) is studied full-time over three years, in English. Most entrants arrive with A-levels or equivalent qualifications, around 90% of accepted students in recent years, with the most common UCAS tariff band among entrants sitting between 176 and 191 points; this reflects typical entrant profiles rather than a stated entry requirement. Bursaries and scholarships may also be available, and it's worth checking the university's own funding pages for current details.
Student satisfaction
How students on this course answered the National Student Survey, by theme.
Share of students responding positively.
Published threshold met NSS publication requires sufficient responses; small differences are not a rank. NSS mean of 7 published themes (Discover Uni snapshot 2026-06-21)
Applicant information
The next application dates for this course, followed by facts the provider publishes.
Application timelineWhat happens next
- 2027 entryCompleted applications can be submitted
Your application needs a reference before you can send it.
- 2026 entryFinal date for 2026 applications
Applications must reach UCAS by 18:00 UK time.
- 2027 entryEarly equal-consideration deadline
18:00 UK time for Oxford, Cambridge and most medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses.
- 2026 entryLast day to add a Clearing choice
Check that this course still has a vacancy before adding it.
Entry & how to get in
Most entrants held A-levels or equivalent90% of accepted students came in with A-levels or equivalent (entrants over recent years).
Typical UCAS tariff: 176 - 191 pointsThe most common UCAS tariff band among accepted students. This is what entrants had, not a stated requirement.
Entry requirements are set by the universityGrades, subjects and contextual offers vary. Check the University of Cambridge's official course page for the current offer.
Who gets in
What recently admitted students actually held, official admissions data, not a stated requirement.
UCAS tariff of entrants
Grades are the A-level equivalent of each points band. Tap a band to check your own chances below.
Qualifications held on entry
| Qualification | Share |
|---|---|
| A-levels or equivalent | 90% |
| another higher-education qualification | 10% |
| a Baccalaureate | 5% |
Entry & your chances
An honest read from the official entry data, plus your personal match.
Competitive entry
Accepted students typically held strong UCAS tariffs. Check how your predicted grades compare and whether a contextual offer applies.
Will you get in? Plot your grades
Pick your predicted A-levels and watch your UCAS points land on the real spread of students admitted to this course.
Your UCAS points0
▾
Each bar is the share of admitted students in that UCAS-points band (lower → higher). Grades show the A-level equivalent.
Add your grades to see where you land
Based on the official admitted-student tariff distribution. Many universities make contextual (reduced-grade) offers, so a result below the range doesn’t rule you out.
How to apply
Undergraduate applications go through UCAS. Here’s what matters for this course, the right deadline, the grades to aim for, and the steps in order.
Apply by15 October 2026, 18:00 UK timeearlier deadline for this course
Typical gradesA*A*A*+A-level equivalent admitted students held
UCAS codeX300quote this on your application
- 1Register on UCAS Hub
Create your UCAS application and add this course (code X300). One application covers up to five choices.
- 2Write your personal statement
A single statement covers all your choices, so keep it broad enough for similar courses while showing genuine interest in this subject.
- 3Submit by 15 October 2026, 18:00 UK time
UCAS equal-consideration deadline for Oxford, Cambridge and most medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses. Source: UCAS 2027 dates.
- 4Sit any admissions test & interview
Courses with the October deadline often need an admissions test (e.g. UCAT, BMAT or a subject test) and interviews, register early and prepare.
- 5Reply to your offers
When decisions are in, pick a firm (first) choice and an insurance (back-up) choice with slightly lower grades.
- 6Results day & confirmation
On results day (mid-August) your place is confirmed if you meet the offer. Just missed? Talk to the university, or find a place through Clearing.
💡 Many universities make a contextual (reduced-grade) offer, for example based on your school’s results, time in care, or where you live. Ask University of Cambridge whether you’re eligible before you apply; it can lower the grades you need.
Fees & funding
What this course costs and how UK student finance covers it.
Tuition per year
Homeup to £9,790 / yr
Internationalset by the university
Standard capped home fee at English providers (2026/27); Scotland, Wales & NI differ.
Check fees at University of Cambridge →For students who normally live in England
illustrative Maintenance Loan per year
£9,790tuition used per year, illustrative full-time England fee-cap scenario
illustrative borrowing over 3 years
2026/27 Student Finance England figures. Maintenance support is means-tested and this two-point view is not an entitlement calculator. The course total uses its published length and home fee where both are available; a missing full-time fee uses the clearly labelled England-cap scenario, while part-time fees and unknown lengths are never guessed. Use the official calculator. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use separate systems: SAAS, Student Finance Wales, and Student Finance NI.
Starting on or after 1 January 2027?
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement is a separate system. A new learner’s tuition entitlement is currently stated as £39,160 (about 480 credits at 2026/27 fee levels), subject to prior study and eligibility. Check the official LLE guide.
Paying for it
- Tuition Fee Loan: can cover eligible tuition up to the applicable limit and is paid straight to the provider.
- Maintenance Loan: up to £10,830/yr away from home outside London (England, 2026/27), means-tested on household income.
- Repayment: 9% of income above £25,000, nothing below it; written off after 40 years.
- Earn alongside: most students work part-time in term, part-time roles on the StudySmarter job board.
England figures shown; Scotland, Wales & NI run their own schemes, check gov.uk.
Funding matched to this course
All University of Cambridge funding →Scholarships & bursaries you could qualify for
Named awards published by the university. Compare the eligibility and application route before budgeting for one.
National funding for this subject
- Teacher-training bursaries: Postgraduate bursaries and scholarships are available for selected shortage subjects. Official guidance
Amounts, exclusions and deadlines can change. An award is not guaranteed unless the university confirms it.
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Career quizApplication walkthroughSalary & CV check
Careers & earnings
What Education & Teaching graduates actually earn, from real outcome data, 15 months, 3 years and 5 years after graduating.
Graduate earnings: this course
| When | Median | Typical range | Graduates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 months after | £26,000 | £24,500 – £32,500 | 10 |
Nominal earnings for graduates of this course/subject at this provider. Limited evidence. Published sample: 10; treat comparisons cautiously. Cohort 2021-23.
Graduate outcomes, 15 months on: this course
75%
in work or further study 15 months on
90%
in highly skilled work or study
100%
continue past their first year
90%
find their work meaningful
90%
say work fits their future plans
- 1Graduate roleFirst role after the degree · 0–2 yrs
- 2Specialist / PractitionerWorking in education & teaching · 2–5 yrs
- 3Senior / LeadLeading work and people · 5–10 yrs
- 4Head of / ExpertSenior leadership or deep expertise · 10+ yrs
How pay grows: this course vs Education & Teaching nationally
Starting (15 months) HESA GO
£26,000
£22,000 – £30,000After 3 years LEO
£17,850 – £25,200
After 5 years LEO
£21,250 – £30,000
national rangethis course’s medianaxis £16,500 – £31,000
National figures for Education & Teaching graduates, HESA Graduate Outcomes (15 months) and the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset (3 & 5 years). These are national, not university-specific; actual pay varies by employer, region, role and experience. Different cohorts, so the bars are not one group over time.
Work out your pay
Headline figures hide a lot. Calculate realistic take-home pay for this field by role, region and experience, then check your CV before you apply.
What happened to 100 students?
Choose an outcome to translate the published percentage into a simple 100-person view. Each dot represents one percentage point, not an individual tracked student.
75 of 100
were in work or further study
15 months after graduation
60% working10% working and studying5% in further study90% in highly skilled work or study
Source: Discover Uni, using Graduate Outcomes and continuation data. Cohorts: 2021-23. Limited evidence. Published sample: 10; treat comparisons cautiously. Cohort 2021-23. Each tab is a separate published measure; categories can overlap and should not be added together.
Value compared with similar courses
How this course’s 15-month median earnings compare with Education & Teaching courses at the same study level.
This course £26,000Peer median £25,000Middle 50% £22,500–£30,000
55th percentile
Compared with 515 courses with compatible official earnings data. This is a course-value comparison, not a quality ranking.
UK occupations graduates enter
Published graduate destinations, joined conservatively to UK SOC 2020, ONS pay and Skills England demand.
- Teaching ProfessionalsSOC 2020 231 · 20% of published destinations · ASHE median £42,660
- Artistic, literary and media occupationsSOC 2020 341 · 20% of published destinations · ASHE median £33,824
- Business and public service associate professionalsSOC 2020 35 · 15% of published destinations · ASHE median £38,760
Discover Uni JOBLIST/JOBTYPE; ONS ASHE 2025 provisional, all employee jobs; Skills England Occupations in Demand 2025. SOC is shown only for an exact normalised label match; demand is shown only at exact four-digit SOC. Published sample: 45; response rate: 60%. Pay describes the occupation across workers, not a guaranteed graduate salary.
Job market & outlook
How Education & Teaching graduates fare in the labour market, and how AI is reshaping the work.
90%
in work or further study 15 months after graduating, across Education & Teaching courses nationally.
Graduate Outcomes70%
of working graduates are in highly skilled work or further study.
highly skilled85%
of students continue past their first year (still enrolled or completed).
continuationHow AI is changing the work
AI doesn't replace the profession, it shifts it: routine tasks get automated, while judgement, working with people and using AI well become more valuable.
What AI takes off your plate
- Routine information gathering
- First-draft writing and summaries
- Standard analysis and admin
- Repetitive processing tasks
More human than ever
- Judgement and original thinking
- Working with and leading people
- Owning and sense-checking AI output
- Ethics and accountability
The strongest graduates pair subject depth with the ability to use AI tools critically.
Roles & employers
Where Education & Teaching graduates typically go, indicative destinations from graduate career data. Each role links to live openings on the StudySmarter job board.
Roles graduates go into
Where they work
- Schools & academy trusts
- Local authorities
- Education charities
- Tutoring providers
Jobs after this course
Current roles from the StudySmarter job board that suit Education & Teaching graduates.
Education SEN MentorMacIntyreEducation Recruitment ConsultantAcademicsEducation Delivery Consultant - Fast Paced, Dynamic Organisation - WorcestershireAP EducationEducation Trustee - Lead Youth Careers & Outdoor LearningRacing to SchoolEducation Recruitment Consultant - Build Futures & Earn UncappedProtocol EducationEducation Recruitment Consultant: Grow Your Desk & ImpactEducation AssetsLive from the StudySmarter job board · as of 2026-08-01.See all matching jobs
Is this course right for you?
The essentials UK applicants ask about: finance, outcomes, entry and quality.
💷
Student finance
For comparison, the standard full-time England tuition cap is up to £9,790 per year in 2026/27; the actual fee varies by course and provider. If you normally live in England, eligible students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan, plus a Maintenance Loan for living costs. Under Plan 5 you repay 9% of income above £25,000, nothing below that, and the balance is written off after 40 years.
📈
Where graduates go
75% were in work or further study 15 months after graduating, with a median salary of £26,000. See the full breakdown in Careers & earnings above.
🎯
Your entry chances
Use the UCAS points calculator above to see how your predicted grades compare with admitted students, and whether a contextual offer could apply.
⭐
Official-data snapshot
Averaging the official measures published for it, this course scores 8.7 out of 10: NSS 85.9% · in work or study 75% · continued 100%.
Who studies here and in this subject?
Provider- and UK subject-level context.
The University of Cambridge
All students22,565
International32.2%
Aged 25+25.1%
Education and teaching across the UK
Students109,885
Aged 25+51.8%
HESA student record 2024/25. Counts are rounded.
Local crime-data context
A neutral snapshot around the published teaching location.
Around University of Cambridge
1,779 street-level reports returned within roughly one mile across 2026-04 to 2026-06.
Violent Crime 453Shoplifting 372Anti Social Behaviour 253Bicycle Theft 147Other Theft 114
Police.uk street-level API. Approximate locations, not confined to campus. England, Wales and Northern Ireland; not Scotland.
Is Education & Teaching right for you?
Tick what applies to you and see how good a fit it is.
International students
What applying to University of Cambridge from outside the UK involves: fees, English, visa, funding and living costs.
Tuition fees
International tuition is set per course by University of Cambridge; international fees are typically £12,000–£30,000/year for classroom subjects and higher for lab/clinical ones. You’re not eligible for UK Tuition Fee or Maintenance Loans, so plan for fees plus living costs upfront.
English language
Most UK undergraduate courses ask for around IELTS 6.0–6.5 (no band below 5.5–6.0), or an accepted equivalent. If you’re just short, most universities run a pre-sessional English course that counts towards the requirement.
Student visa
You’ll usually need a Student visa (Student Route). After you accept an offer the university issues a CAS; you then show funds for fees plus about £1,023–£1,334/month living costs and pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for NHS access.
Scholarships & funding
Many universities offer international/global scholarships (often £2,000–£6,000/yr), check University of Cambridge’s funding pages.
Living costs
Budget roughly £1,100–£1,400/month outside London and £1,400–£1,800/month in London for rent, food and travel; the figure also matters for your visa.
Working while you study
A Student visa usually allows up to 20 hours/week in term time and full-time in holidays, useful alongside study, though not something to rely on for fees.
Visa rules and fees change. Always confirm the current requirements with University of Cambridge and gov.uk before you apply.
Related courses
More at University of Cambridge
Common questions
How competitive is entry?
Entry is competitive. Accepted students typically held strong UCAS tariffs. The most common tariff band among recent entrants was 176 - 191 UCAS points. Use the calculator on this page to see where your predicted grades would put you; many universities also make lower contextual offers.
What are the entry requirements?
Set by the University of Cambridge. Most accepted students held A-levels or equivalent. Check the university's course page for the exact offer.
What do graduates go on to do?
For Education graduates from this provider, 75% were in work or further study 15 months after graduating, 90% in highly skilled roles, typical earnings around £26,000. (HESA Graduate Outcomes / LEO, via Discover Uni.)
What will it cost me?
For comparison, the standard full-time England tuition cap is up to £9,790 per year in 2026/27; the actual fee varies by course and provider. If you normally live in England, eligible students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan, plus a Maintenance Loan for living costs. Under Plan 5 you repay 9% of income above £25,000, nothing below that, and the balance is written off after 40 years. See Fees & funding on this page to work out your numbers.
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