Why choose the School of Education and English
Our education courses rank UK 4th (tied) in their subject field for career prospects (Guardian GUG, 2026).
They rank in the UK top 20 for student satisfaction (Complete ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Guide, 2026).
Our education students rate us highly (over 90% positive responses) for our teaching; academic support; learning opportunities; assessment and feedback; and organisation and management (NSS, 2025).
About the course
This degree provides a thorough grounding in research, theory and practice across the broad field of SEND, and includes opportunities to engage with professionals in the real world of work. Through a powerful mix of theory and its practical application, you explore concepts such as needs, inclusion and disability, relating them to policy, everyday practices and decision making. This in-depth course has been designed and is taught by specialists with a reputation for integrating theory, research and practice in SEND.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Specialist Early Years and Sensory Centre to support your understanding of how teachers teach and children learn, within SEND contexts
- Forest School where you can deepen your understanding of the long-term educational benefits of outdoor learning opportunities and learning in SEND
- Classrooms with specialist technology so you can watch and assess different teaching approaches within SEND teaching
- Multi-media space for webinars and podcasting
- Wide range of sports facilities
Industry links
As one of the largest providers of teacher education in the eastern region, we have well-established partnerships with more than 500 schools and other associated organisations, a network that puts us at the forefront of educational developments.
Student experience
Deepen your knowledge, experience and understanding through placements and visits to relevant, professional organisations.
Gain the ability to reflect sensitively on the issues and barriers young people with SEND face in education while exploring ways to address them.
Benefit from the support of your own personal tutor as well as unit and course coordinators.
Broaden your understanding through regular visits by professionals from schools and academy chains; SEN schools; local education authorities; and other involved agencies. 
Our Bedford campus is a small, thriving academic community where academic staff get to know you well and provide personalised, highly student-centred learning.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
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with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
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ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ing our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) BA (Hons) course will equip you with the specialist knowledge and skills in the combined fields of educational needs and disability studies. If you are passionate about working with children, young people and families, our unit in the Narratives of Childhood will be useful in developing your understanding of theories on childhood, youth and education. In SEND studies, you will learn to identify the ‘Need’ in Special Educational Needs and Disability by questioning what makes a special need ‘special’ and what the legal definition of ‘needs’ is in the UK. You will explore this in more depth in our Historical Development and Current Legal Context for SEND unit where you will examine the history of SEND provision, how it informs current policy, and what can be done for children who have not progressed. Aside from this, you will engage in Understanding Human Learning to help you develop your knowledge on what informs learning and behaviour difficulty in educational institutions. ÌýÌý
To deepen your understanding, our unit in Understanding and Meeting Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties and Sensory and/or Physical Difficulties aims to develop your awareness of these needs and how to address them in classroom settings. Alongside this, you will also look at Approaches to Understanding and Addressing Communication, Interaction, Cognition and Learning Needs while debating ways to meet these needs in an inclusive society. You will then learn to assess these needs in our Assessment and Planning unit that will help inform meaningful and sensitive provision. As a SEND educator, you will also learn to support pupils with specific needs, such as those with Difficulties in Literary Acquisition, including dyslexia, and Difficulties in Numeracy Acquisition by exploring models of literacy learning and how educational institutions can facilitate this.ÌýÌý
Moreover, you will adapt your teaching and pedagogy to meet these needs while keeping their wellbeing, progress and achievements in mind in our Differentiation in Classrooms unit. To help with this, you will be introduced to the Uses of ICT to Support Young People’s Special Learning Needs so that you can facilitate greater participation among SEND individuals in education. In other areas of study, you will discover how Children’s Literature provides insight into their lives and their transition to adulthood by examining material such as illustration, drama and popular fiction, as well as how to engage them with this material.ÌýÌý
Finally, you will plan and execute an independent research project in our Dissertation unit where you will choose a relevant topic of interest to you and work under the guidance of a supervisor. In more practical work, you will partake in a SEND Placement that will allow you to understand how children and young people with a range of needs learn, as well as put SEND theory into practice. To help you with this, our unit in Investigating the Social World will equip you with an understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, data collection, analysis and reporting. As an additional unit, you can also undertake a Professional Practice Year (Education and English) as an opportunity to develop your employability skills and gain formally recognised work-based learning.Ìý
This course will provide a range of assessment methods that include both individual and group submissions to evaluate the extent to which you have met the learning outcomes of each unit. These include essays reports posters case studies examinations learning journals and presentations.
The assignments will build directly on the teaching sessions and you will be supported by lecturers to complete the assignments. Substantial guidance is provided on the university's web pages and in detailed assessment briefs.
Careers
You will be prepared for a broad range of employment that requires skills and knowledge of the law; theories of learning; assessment of difficulties; and practical interventions to support children and young people with diverse needs.
Careers include teaching and teaching assistance in schools; inclusion support; child and family advocacy; mentoring; adult education; local authority support; charity roles; and entry to courses related to a variety of therapies.
If you complete this course and meet the entry requirements for our PGCE Primary Education, you will be in a good position to begin your training as a primary teacher. An in-depth and comprehensive understanding of SEND will take you a long way.
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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