Education Postgraduate Research - 2024 Entry

In this rapidly changing world, a postgraduate course can serve different needs and give you that extra edge that today's employers are looking for, or secure that much-needed promotion. Whatever your academic or professional goals, our long tradition of academic excellence will help you get there.

The Education EdD programme has been designed to offer flexibility in its provision and is available as a part-time or full-time course. Candidates for this degree may come from different backgrounds: for example, students who have finished or partly finished our MA/MEd programme, university lecturers, education policy makers, administrators, school teachers, advisers, inspectors, or anyone with an interest in education. We welcome applications from both overseas and home students.

Course Length

Length of course (for part-time study): Normally 5 years divided into 3 stages

Tutors and Supervisors

Applicants who are hoping to transfer MA credits to the EdD are recommended to check the research interests and expertise of our tutors and supervisors in the EdD programme, listed below. This is to ensure that their intended research topic is related in general to the interests and expertise of one or more of the supervisors, thus making sure that suitable supervision of the thesis is possible.

• Dr Emma Rawlings Smith (PGR Lead)
• Dr Tanya Hathaway
• Dr Fliss Kyffin
• Dr Susan Wyn Jones
• Dr Sarah Olive
• Dr David Sullivan
• Dr Enlli Thomas
• Dr Emily Roberts-Tyler
• Dr Jean Ware
• Dr Nia Williams

If you have any questions, please contact Postgraduate Lead,  Dr Emma Rawlings Smith.

What will you study on this course?

During the Education EdD programme, you will have the opportunity to practise and develop many key skills, such as searching literature, communication and ICT skills, and other skills associated with independent research. Students are responsible for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses in the key skills and studying independently to improve them. Feedback from formative and summative assessment tasks may also help to identify areas for improvement.

The taught sessions normally consist of 30 hours of contact time for each module. In addition to the taught sessions students are expected to work independently on each module, on the ideas directly related to the module, the assignment, and the key skills. This independent work will sometimes be directed by the tutor; for instance, reading material relevant to the next session, preparing for discussion, or researching into a related area. In addition to these directed tasks, students are expected to spend time developing their understanding of the ideas in the module and the key skills, preparing for assignments, and carrying out independent reading and research, as well as reflecting on the ideas from the module that support the development of key skills.

Course Structure 

Part 1 : Taught modules

Six modules are taken in the first year by full-time students and in the first two years by part-time students. The six modules include:

Two compulsory modules:

• Research Methods in Education
• Thesis Proposal

Four optional modules (students must choose four modules from those offered - see Modules below).

Study Guides will be provided for most modules. Some core texts may be recommended for purchase by module tutors. Each module bears 30 credits at Level 7.

Modules may be taught during weekdays, at weekends, or in a summer school, depending on needs and resources.

Part 2 : Thesis

Students may not progress to Part 2 until they have successfully completed Part 1. The thesis is an in-depth work on a specialist topic to be completed within 2-4 years for full-time students or within 3-5 years for part-time students. Students are expected to present a thesis that meets the criteria set by Bangor University. The thesis should be based on the thesis proposal from Part 1, or, for students awarded a Bangor scholarship, on a research topic designated by the supervisor(s) It should have a maximum length of 50,000 words. Students will be required to defend it in an oral examination attended by two examiners (one internal and the other external) appointed by the School.

Modules

In Part 1 of the programme, six modules are to be taken in the first year by full-time students and in the first two years by part-time students. Research Methods in Education and Thesis Proposal are compulsory. If a module is not offered as a taught module in a particular year but is important to an individual student, it may be taken as the Supervised Independent Study module, subject to mutual agreement between the student and the module convener. The optional modules include:

Level 7 Modules

• Research Methods in Education*
• Theories of Learning
• Principles of Assessment
• Meeting SEN
• Gender and Education
• Intercultural and International Education
• Bilingualism and Bilingual Education
• Educational Management
• Education and World Citizenship
• TESOL
• Learning Communities
• Developing Mentoring Skills
• Supervised Independent Study

Level 8 Modules

• Thesis Proposal*

* Compulsory modules

Formative Assessment

Tutors will provide formative written feedback on outlines of assignments within a month. For those who are not native speakers of English, the draft of their first assignment of the programme can be read by the tutor to monitor language competence.

Summative Assessment

The work to be assessed for each module should amount to at least 5,000 words. It must not exceed 6,000 words (excluding figures and diagrams, the bibliography and references, and appendices).

Assessment of the thesis will conform with the standard University guidelines for research theses.

Modules for the current academic year

Module listings are for guide purposes only and are subject to change. Find out what our students are currently studying on the Education Modules  page.

Course content is for guidance purposes only and may be subject to change.

Prior study at Masters level is normally required for entry.

It is possible for students who have been following the MA in Education Studies programme to move up to the EdD programme after completing Part 1 of the MA without moving on to the MA dissertation. Transfer of credits into the EdD is evaluated case by case, as the EdD is essentially a research degree.

Applicants who are not native English speakers should have either an IELTS result of 6.0 or above, with no individual score lower than 5.5, or a TOFEL score of 560 paper-based or 220 computer-based, unless they have already studied at university level through the medium of English.

Applicants are required to be interviewed in person or by other means.

If you have any questions, please contact Postgraduate Lead, Dr Emma Rawlings Smith.