Professional Studies in Learning and Development BA(Hons)

Course in brief

The University of Brighton is home to one of the UK's largest education departments, rated ‘outstanding’ in our last Ofsted inspection.

Professional Studies in Learning and Development (PSLD) is aimed at professional practitioners working in formal and informal education, learning, and development settings and who want to develop their academic and research skills.

The part-time design of this course allows you to study for a professional qualification while you are working. A range of optional modules allow you to tailor your degree according to your professional or personal aims.

You will be mentored by a successful teaching team with an outstanding national reputation and innovative research profile that informs the course's content.

Pursuing a PSLD specialism to degree standard means that you will be able to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve your career goals.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

UCAS code Not applicable. Apply direct to the university.

Part-time 2 years

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Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2017. They should be used as a general guide.

We operate a flexible admissions policy – this means that you could receive a lower conditional offer than the typical offer, informed by our assessment of your complementary non-academic achievements and experiences. For courses that require interview or portfolio review, this may also be considered in the level of any conditional offer that follows if your application is successful.

Applicants are normally expected to have:

relevant previous study in higher education, amounting to at least 240 CATS points, of which at least 120 must be at level 5
evidence of current relevant practice, either in a professional or voluntary capacity, normally for at least 12 hours per week.

For non-native speakers of English
IELTS 6.0 overall, with 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

Course in detail

Course structure

This course is part-time and runs for two years but in exceptional circumstances, it may be possible to take the award over 12 months (July to the following June).

Taught sessions vary according to modules selected but typically include weekly daytime or evening sessions and occasional Saturdays.

You will normally be expected to work for 2 and a half days per week in a relevant context.You will also spend about 1 day per week on work-based activities, reflection and private study.

In Year 1, you will study two modules from a range of generic and sector/role specific modules. All students undertake the inter-disciplinary critical practice module alongside student practitioners from other disciplines.

In Year 2, you will undertake an independent, small-scale research project. Expert individual support and supervision is provided along the way to support you in your selected subject.

Syllabus

Module topics include:

Professional Identity and Inter-professional Practice Development
Practitioners as Researchers
Professional Enquiry

Options*

An Introduction to Critical Perspectives in Education, Learning and Development
Developing Digital Literacy and Computational Thinking in the Primary Classroom
Information, Advice and Guidance in Secondary and Further Education
Foundations for the Future
Perspectives on Leadership
PSHEE and Citizenship in a Range of Learning and Development Contexts
Language and Learning across the Curriculum
Targeted Interventions with Vulnerable Individuals and Groups
Understanding Participation and Community Development
Quality Assurance in Services for Young People

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Careers and employability

This course will give you a formal qualification to back up the practical skills and knowledge that you have already acquired through your previous work experiences.

In particular, this award offers foundation degree and diploma of higher education graduates an opportunity to progress to an honours degree course.

After successfully completing the course, you may be able to apply for Qualified Teacher Status via the Graduate Teacher programme or a PGCE, providing you meet government entry requirements for teaching.

Fees and funding

Your fees

Year 1 4,500 GBP (60 credits)

Year 2 4,500 GBP (60 credits)

Concerned about university fees?

You do not need to pay tuition fees upfront. If you are a UK or EU undergraduate student studying for the first time, you can apply for funding from the government to cover these. Once you leave university, you will only repay the loan if you earn above a certain amount.

Universities UK and Money Saving Expert have produced a guide that takes you through the system and explains what you’ll really pay to study as a part-time student.

Download a copy of the brochure

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Surrounded by the South Downs National Park and just five miles from the centre of Brighton, our Falmer campus has benefited from over £60million of investment over the past 10 years. 7,000 students are based here, studying subjects including English, education, social science, nursing and medicine.

Recent developments include the Falmer Sports Centre – with its fitness suites and sports hall – and the innovative Checkland Building, which has natural ventilation systems and an insulating green roof.

Falmer has also recently installed more than 600 solar panels, which reduce the campus’s carbon emissions by more than 80 tonnes. The renovation has made us one of the top universities in the UK for on-site renewable energy production.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station. You can also catch a free bus service to Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer campuses, which is operated by local bus service The Big Lemon.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

Find out more on our Brighton accommodation webpages and if you have any questions, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field