STUDY

Undergraduate

BA (Hons) Childhood: Primary Education with QTS

Pens and pencils in a pot
Institution code: S82
UCAS code: X120
Start date: September 2025
Duration: Three years full time.
Location: Ipswich
Typical Offer: 120 UCAS tariff points (or above), BBB (A-Level), DDM (BTEC), Merit (T Level)
Institution code: S82
UCAS code: X120
Start date: September 2025
Duration: Three years full time.
Location: Ipswich
Typical Offer: 120 UCAS tariff points (or above), BBB (A-Level), DDM (BTEC), Merit (T Level)
Course information table
Institution code: S82
UCAS code: X120
Start date: September 2025
Duration: Three years full time.
Location: Ipswich
Typical Offer: 120 UCAS tariff points (or above), BBB (A-Level), DDM (BTEC), Merit (T Level)
Course information table
Institution code: S82
UCAS code: X120
Start date: September 2025
Course information table
Duration: Three years full time.
Location: Ipswich
Typical Offer: 120 UCAS tariff points (or above), BBB (A-Level), DDM (BTEC), Merit (T Level)

Overview

The BA (Hons) Childhood: Primary Education with QTS is an exciting opportunity for students wishing to become primary school teachers. The course is delivered in partnership with local Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers and combines a full-time academic programme with a placement in a school setting. This allows in-depth experience over a range of schools and year groups. This programme offers students a rich and varied programme of study combining extensive school experience of over 160 days in practice and professional learning with a multi-disciplinary academic study of childhood. The programme enables students to gain a BA Honours degree in Childhood while working towards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in Primary Education. Upon successful completion of the programme students will have obtained Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) which will allow them to take up a qualified teacher position in a primary school.  

This course includes a wide range of continuous professional development training, like paediatric first aid training, protecting children online and Youth Mental Health First Aid training.  

On this course, you will engage with children, understand their rights, listen to their experiences, and prioritise these. You will be equipped to do this through a range of modules, which build on a diversity of social sciences without privileging one perspective over another. Through this array of lenses, you will interrogate contemporary issues and debates within childhood and education from local, national and international contexts.   

An in-depth understanding of diversity and difference in children and childhoods will enabling you to develop, adopt and champion inclusive and participatory attitudes and practice throughout your studies and into your future career. We want to equip you with the skills to become change agents in your future organisations and communities. The academic team draws on years of academic and professional expertise in teacher training, childhood, child health, development and therapeutic working. You will benefit from close working relationships with a highly motivated teaching team who will support you in your journey to becoming a primary education teacher.   

This academically challenging route is designed especially for high performing, motivated students as it combines a full-time academic programme with school placements throughout each year of the course. 

If you don’t meet the above entry requirements, we may still be able to consider you. If you’re interested in applying, contact our Admissions Team or call our Clearing Hotline to discuss your suitability for study.  

The University of Suffolk is world-class and committed to our region. We are proudly modern and innovative and we believe in transformative education. We are on the rise with a focus on student satisfaction, graduate prospects, spending on academic services and student facilities.

5th

in the UK for Childhood & Youth Studies courses

The Complete University Guide 2024

5th

for graduate prospects in Childhood & Youth Studies

The Complete University Guide 2024

6th

in the UK for spend on academic services

The Complete University Guide 2024

Course Modules

Our undergraduate programmes are delivered as 'block and blend' - more information can be found on Why Suffolk? You can also watch our Block and Blend video.

Full-time students typically take five to six modules per year (a total of 120 credits).

The first year provides a multi-disciplinary overview of childhood, education, child development, health, and diversity. From the very start of the course you will also be in a placement at one of our ITT partner primary schools for one day a week allowing you to apply your academic knowledge to practice on a continuous basis. There will also be an extended placement block where you will be able to start developing your skills as a teacher.

As you progress into Year 2 and 3, your academic study is split equally between the Childhood programme at the University and the ITT providers for the professional, subject-specific modules of your course. Over the course of your training, you will have placements in 3 different schools offering you a range and depth of experience. Throughout your placements you will receive high quality support and mentoring from your school mentor and your expert ITT tutor.

Downloadable information regarding all University of Suffolk courses, including Key Facts, Course Aims, Course Structure and Assessment, is available in the Definitive Course Record.

A child sitting and working in a classroom

This module seeks to introduce students to academic study at university level. Its purpose is to enable students to reflect on and develop their skills as they progress through their first year of study. This is achieved by introducing students to the key study and academic skills required to succeed at university level study such as accessing, and evaluating academic source material, understanding argumentation and critical thinking, academic writing, and referencing. Students will also reflect on elements of academic resilience and employability. 

This module introduces students to a range of subject areas and key debates surrounding the health/illness and wellbeing of children in the contemporary UK. The module presents students with several perspectives through which to view these ideas: biological, medical, social and environmental. The implications of poor health and illness on the child and the family help contextualise the dynamic roles of children in maintaining their own health.  

This module investigates the developing child and the changes that occur over time within the context of the family and wider social systems that children inhabit. The module has a particular focus on the aspects of child development that influence and are influenced by social context. It will include the psychological development of babies, children and young people within the family, education and the wider social systems. It seeks to explain how the interaction between biological, social and cultural factors affect lifelong patterns of change in the individual.  

This module is an opportunity to introduce students to education and the underpinning values of professional practice with a particular focus on the historical, international and contemporary conceptualisations, policies and practices of care and education. Students will be encouraged to consider how the theoretical study of the child underpins the early years and primary curriculum and adult role.  

Within this module, students will be challenged to ask critical questions about their social world and explore their own individual and cultural experiences within a wider context. Throughout this module, students are encouraged to examine the common assumptions of childhood as a natural, universal, fixed, and inevitable life stage. By ‘thinking sociologically’, students will identify the social structures which define, govern, and locate children and childhood.  

The module will address diversity, rights and inclusion in the broadest sense, addressing two core areas: childhood and barriers to participation/inclusion. Students will be encouraged to consider the intersectionalities of children and young people’s lives. Topics range from gender, poverty, ethnicity, disability, and socio-cultural diversity to identify and explore the differing perspectives and discourses. 

This module will consist of an initial school experience and teaching practice. The extended placement provides opportunities for students to observe children and begin to understand the classroom environment. In the 4- week block placement, students will have the opportunity to teach some whole-class lessons, with the support of the class teacher. 

This module will introduce students to theories and approaches to systems around childhood and the development of the children. It will focus on topics such as the family system, family-school-community collaboration; school involvement, and will then engage in broader discussions on globalisation, legislation and educational systems. The systems approach underlying the ecological model of human development will be examined as a theoretical framework that allows, and encourages, integration of other theoretical views into a multi-theoretical approach.  

The module provides students with an historical policy context in which to understand the origins of safeguarding children and the social construction of abuse. Reflecting contemporary safeguarding policy, the module explores the related themes of early intervention, prevention, and child protection as every professions responsibility. At the core of safeguarding children is developing a theoretical understanding of why children are abused, the ability to identify signs and symptoms, and understand the impact of abuse and neglect on children’s wellbeing. 

This module grounds students in the principles of social science research and methods employed to develop our understanding of the social world. The module covers core aspects of the research process and offers students opportunities to focus on particular methods of interest to them and relevant to their field of study. The module aims to provide students with the knowledge and confidence to undertake independent, ethical and robust research in the social sciences. This module also acts as a precursor to the Year 3 Independent Project module. 

This module is concerned with the management and practice of learning and teaching within schools. The unit introduces the students to key areas of practice including: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, professional behaviours and meeting the needs of all learners (including SEND/EAL/HLP). Through this module, students will develop a strong understanding of a wide range of professional responsibilities within the whole school and classroom environments.  

This module enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in English (including early reading and phonics), mathematics and science. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching.  

This module enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in computing, PE, DT, RS and PSHE. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching.  

This module will consist of the first assessed teaching practice. The extended placement provides opportunities for students to plan, teach and assess for a class of primary age children across the full primary curriculum. Students will be provided with a coherent range of experiences and learning opportunities which, when taken together, build upon their skills and knowledge, laying the foundations for further development. Students will have all the necessary learning opportunities and support to enable them to demonstrate that they are meeting the Teacher’s Standards. 

This module is designed for students to produce a final year project that allows them to exercise their independent judgement and skills in the development and execution of a project or dissertation relevant to their field of study. Under the supervision of an assigned tutor, the module provides students with the opportunity to independently apply the core subject knowledge and skills developed over the course of their degree. 

Drawing from postcolonial, subaltern, decolonial, post-qualitative and posthuman critiques, the module aims to explore the Southern “turn” to domains of knowledge - hierarchies, ‘production’, erasures and circulation - resulting in the deligitimisation of knowledges from the ‘rich peripheral countries’ to build an understanding of the impact of knowledge as capital. Engaging with this upsurge of interest in decolonisation within professional and academic environments will not only extend the University’s currency but importantly enrich students’ understanding of the current demand to decolonise educational and practice settings, and why acknowledging other knowledges and decolonisation matters, towards enabling a critical approach to future thinking and practice. In doing so, the module will interrogate what place curriculum and policies have within these calls for decolonising education and practice in the UK.  

This module is concerned with the management and practice of learning and teaching within schools. It is designed to promote a critical awareness of the nature of learning in schools. The unit builds on the Year 2 module and develops the students’ understanding and practice in key areas including: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, professional behaviours and meeting the needs of all learners (including SEND/EAL/HLP). 

This module builds on the Year 2 module ‘Core Subjects 1’ and enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in English (including early reading and phonics), mathematics and science. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to further examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching.  

This module builds on the Year 2 module ‘Foundation Subjects 1’ and enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in history, geography, art, music, and languages. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to further examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching. 

This module will consist of a final assessed teaching practice. The extended placement provides opportunities for students to plan, teach and assess for a class of primary age children across the full primary curriculum. This placement will take place in the ‘opposite’ Key Stage to the block placement in Year 2 to enable students to demonstrate that they can plan, teach, and assess across the primary age range. Students will be provided with a coherent range of experiences and learning opportunities which, when taken together, build upon their skills and knowledge, laying the foundations for further development. Students will have all of the necessary learning opportunities and support to enable them to demonstrate that they are meeting the Teachers’ Standards. 

Course Modules 2024

Our undergraduate programmes are delivered as 'block and blend' - more information can be found on Why Suffolk? You can also watch our Block and Blend video.

Full-time students typically take five to six modules per year (a total of 120 credits).

The first year provides a multi-disciplinary overview of childhood, education, child development, health, and diversity. From the very start of the course you will also be in a placement at one of our ITT partner primary schools for one day a week allowing you to apply your academic knowledge to practice on a continuous basis. There will also be an extended placement block where you will be able to start developing your skills as a teacher.

As you progress into Year 2 and 3, your academic study is split equally between the Childhood programme at the University and the ITT providers for the professional, subject-specific modules of your course. Over the course of your training, you will have placements in 3 different schools offering you a range and depth of experience. Throughout your placements you will receive high quality support and mentoring from your school mentor and your expert ITT tutor.

Downloadable information regarding all University of Suffolk courses, including Key Facts, Course Aims, Course Structure and Assessment, is available in the Definitive Course Record.

A child sitting and working in a classroom

This module seeks to introduce students to academic study at university level. Its purpose is to enable students to reflect on and develop their skills as they progress through their first year of study. This is achieved by introducing students to the key study and academic skills required to succeed at university level study such as accessing, and evaluating academic source material, understanding argumentation and critical thinking, academic writing, and referencing. Students will also reflect on elements of academic resilience and employability. 

This module introduces students to a range of subject areas and key debates surrounding the health/illness and wellbeing of children in the contemporary UK. The module presents students with several perspectives through which to view these ideas: biological, medical, social and environmental. The implications of poor health and illness on the child and the family help contextualise the dynamic roles of children in maintaining their own health.  

This module investigates the developing child and the changes that occur over time within the context of the family and wider social systems that children inhabit. The module has a particular focus on the aspects of child development that influence and are influenced by social context. It will include the psychological development of babies, children and young people within the family, education and the wider social systems. It seeks to explain how the interaction between biological, social and cultural factors affect lifelong patterns of change in the individual.  

This module is an opportunity to introduce students to education and the underpinning values of professional practice with a particular focus on the historical, international and contemporary conceptualisations, policies and practices of care and education. Students will be encouraged to consider how the theoretical study of the child underpins the early years and primary curriculum and adult role.  

Within this module, students will be challenged to ask critical questions about their social world and explore their own individual and cultural experiences within a wider context. Throughout this module, students are encouraged to examine the common assumptions of childhood as a natural, universal, fixed, and inevitable life stage. By ‘thinking sociologically’, students will identify the social structures which define, govern, and locate children and childhood.  

The module will address diversity, rights and inclusion in the broadest sense, addressing two core areas: childhood and barriers to participation/inclusion. Students will be encouraged to consider the intersectionalities of children and young people’s lives. Topics range from gender, poverty, ethnicity, disability, and socio-cultural diversity to identify and explore the differing perspectives and discourses. 

This module will consist of an initial school experience and teaching practice. The extended placement provides opportunities for students to observe children and begin to understand the classroom environment. In the 4- week block placement, students will have the opportunity to teach some whole-class lessons, with the support of the class teacher. 

This module will introduce students to theories and approaches to systems around childhood and the development of the children. It will focus on topics such as the family system, family-school-community collaboration; school involvement, and will then engage in broader discussions on globalisation, legislation and educational systems. The systems approach underlying the ecological model of human development will be examined as a theoretical framework that allows, and encourages, integration of other theoretical views into a multi-theoretical approach.  

The module provides students with an historical policy context in which to understand the origins of safeguarding children and the social construction of abuse. Reflecting contemporary safeguarding policy, the module explores the related themes of early intervention, prevention, and child protection as every professions responsibility. At the core of safeguarding children is developing a theoretical understanding of why children are abused, the ability to identify signs and symptoms, and understand the impact of abuse and neglect on children’s wellbeing. 

This module grounds students in the principles of social science research and methods employed to develop our understanding of the social world. The module covers core aspects of the research process and offers students opportunities to focus on particular methods of interest to them and relevant to their field of study. The module aims to provide students with the knowledge and confidence to undertake independent, ethical and robust research in the social sciences. This module also acts as a precursor to the Year 3 Independent Project module. 

This module is concerned with the management and practice of learning and teaching within schools. The unit introduces the students to key areas of practice including: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, professional behaviours and meeting the needs of all learners (including SEND/EAL/HLP). Through this module, students will develop a strong understanding of a wide range of professional responsibilities within the whole school and classroom environments.  

This module enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in English (including early reading and phonics), mathematics and science. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching.  

This module enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in computing, PE, DT, RS and PSHE. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching.  

This module will consist of the first assessed teaching practice. The extended placement provides opportunities for students to plan, teach and assess for a class of primary age children across the full primary curriculum. Students will be provided with a coherent range of experiences and learning opportunities which, when taken together, build upon their skills and knowledge, laying the foundations for further development. Students will have all the necessary learning opportunities and support to enable them to demonstrate that they are meeting the Teacher’s Standards. 

This module is designed for students to produce a final year project that allows them to exercise their independent judgement and skills in the development and execution of a project or dissertation relevant to their field of study. Under the supervision of an assigned tutor, the module provides students with the opportunity to independently apply the core subject knowledge and skills developed over the course of their degree. 

Drawing from postcolonial, subaltern, decolonial, post-qualitative and posthuman critiques, the module aims to explore the Southern “turn” to domains of knowledge - hierarchies, ‘production’, erasures and circulation - resulting in the deligitimisation of knowledges from the ‘rich peripheral countries’ to build an understanding of the impact of knowledge as capital. Engaging with this upsurge of interest in decolonisation within professional and academic environments will not only extend the University’s currency but importantly enrich students’ understanding of the current demand to decolonise educational and practice settings, and why acknowledging other knowledges and decolonisation matters, towards enabling a critical approach to future thinking and practice. In doing so, the module will interrogate what place curriculum and policies have within these calls for decolonising education and practice in the UK.  

This module is concerned with the management and practice of learning and teaching within schools. It is designed to promote a critical awareness of the nature of learning in schools. The unit builds on the Year 2 module and develops the students’ understanding and practice in key areas including: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, professional behaviours and meeting the needs of all learners (including SEND/EAL/HLP). 

This module builds on the Year 2 module ‘Core Subjects 1’ and enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in English (including early reading and phonics), mathematics and science. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to further examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching.  

This module builds on the Year 2 module ‘Foundation Subjects 1’ and enables students to gain a secure knowledge of the pupils’ National Curriculum in history, geography, art, music, and languages. In addition, students will gain a secure knowledge in teaching within the EYFS. The central purpose will be to further examine strategies for the effective learning, teaching and assessment of each subject as well as to gain the necessary subject knowledge for teaching. 

This module will consist of a final assessed teaching practice. The extended placement provides opportunities for students to plan, teach and assess for a class of primary age children across the full primary curriculum. This placement will take place in the ‘opposite’ Key Stage to the block placement in Year 2 to enable students to demonstrate that they can plan, teach, and assess across the primary age range. Students will be provided with a coherent range of experiences and learning opportunities which, when taken together, build upon their skills and knowledge, laying the foundations for further development. Students will have all of the necessary learning opportunities and support to enable them to demonstrate that they are meeting the Teachers’ Standards. 

Waterfront Building reflecting in the marina

WHY SUFFOLK

2nd in the UK for Career Prospects

WUSCA 2024

3rd in the UK for spend on academic services

Complete University Guide 2025

4th in the UK for Teaching Satisfaction

Guardian University Guide 2024
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Inside the Waterfront Building
Boats on the marina in front of the Waterfront Building
The Waterfront Building on Ipswich Marina
Bookshelves and step ladder
The Library
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SU Social Space

Entry Requirements

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Career Opportunities

Employability has always been central to the Childhood and Education courses at the University of Suffolk. We encourage all students to undertake work/practice experience. The BA Childhood: Primary Education with QTS course prepares students for work as teachers in primary education settings. We believe that the extensive placement embedded in this course is an excellent preparation for students’ future teaching careers. The BA Childhood: Primary Education with QTS programme also enables students to go into a wide range of careers working with children and their families as well as completing postgraduate qualifications in order to work in other fields of education, health and social care. These include roles within:

  • Family support and Social Work
  • Nursing and related disciplines
  • Early Years settings
  • International, national and regional aid work with children and their families
  • Postgraduate research

Your Course Team

Dr Marianna Stella

Marianna is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Education.

Marianna Stella staff profile photo

Dr Phil Nicholson

Phil’s main areas of focus are sociology of education, educational policy, pedagogy, social justice and educational inequality

Phil Nicholson staff photo

Dr Wendy Lecluyse

Wendy is Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience and Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies.

Wendy Lecluyse staff profile photo

Dr Ivana Lessner Listiakova

Ivana is an Associate Professor in Childhood and Education.

Ivana Lessner Listiakova staff profile photo

Dr Cristian Dogaru

Dr Dogaru is the course leader for MRes Social Sciences and Humanities. He is a paediatrician-turned-social scientist with 20 years of experience in his field.

Cristian Dogaru staff profile photo

Maureen Haaker

Maureen's research centres on constructions of the body, reproductive politics, and subjectivity.

Maureen Haaker staff profile photo

Dr Pallawi Sinha

Pallawi is Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies and is passionate about building dialogue and understanding on education and childhoods.

Pallawi Sinha profile photo on yellow background

Carolyn Leader

Carolyn is a lecturer in Early Childhood Studies.

Carolyn Leader staff profile photo

Dr Xiaorong Gu

Xiaorong is a Lecturer in Childhood Studies at the University of Suffolk.

Xiaorong Gu staff profile photo

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Tuition Fee

£9,250

per year
International Full-time Tuition Fee

£15,090

per year

The decision to study a degree is an investment into your future, there are various means of support available to you in order to help fund your tuition fees and living costs. You can apply for funding from the Spring before your course starts.

UK Fees and Finance UK Bursaries and Scholarships International Fees and Scholarships

Ipswich Award

The University of Suffolk is offering a £1,000 Award for students joining the University of Suffolk’s Ipswich campus. The Award is based on specific eligibility criteria based on your year of entry.

More information
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How to Apply

To study this course on a full-time basis, you can apply through UCAS. As well as providing your academic qualifications, you’ll be able to showcase your skills, qualities and passion for the subject.

Apply Now Further Information on Applying
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Neve Burman, BA (Hons) Childhood: Primary Education with QTS student

"When the course began I was nervous as to how I would find it, having been out of education for some time. But I can safely say the lecturers and staff were so supportive of me, wanting me to achieve and succeed. After a few months, I found the swing of things and achieved in all areas of my university career. "

read more
Neve Burman, Student in BA (Hons) Childhood Studies with QTS

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