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Leading Educational Change and Improvement (PGA) (2021 Entry)



  • Course Code
  • X30R
  • Course Type
  • Postgraduate Taught
  • Qualification
  • PGA
  • Duration
  • Part-time: 1 term
  • Location of Study
  • University of Warwick


Develop your understanding of leading educational change and improvement on this short course. Warwick's Education Studies offers this PGA as a bridge to further education, you will develop an understanding of education change through research and practical perspectives.


This short course will allow you to develop an understanding of educational change and improvement from a research and practical perspective, and look at how that can impact teaching and learning outcomes. Suitable for teachers, researchers and administrators, you will be comparing evaluating and critiquing international reform efforts and developing knowledge about the dynamics of leading improvement as a strategy for change.

The course may also be used as a bridge course towards applying for the MA Educational Leadership and Management.


Core Modules

  • Leading Educational Change and Improvement (available face to face or online)

Depending on which module you select, the course is either delivered entirely online, through a dedicated distance learning portal or face to face with weekly lectures. For the online variant, you will use a mixture of online text extracts and journals, and will undertake regular tasks alongside their end of module assignments. Support will be given via email with your subject tutor. Alternatively, the course will be delivered through a variety of teaching methods: lectures, seminars, discussions, presentations and case studies. The assessment on this course consists of an essay and a portfolio.

Skills from this degree

  • Understand competing paradigms and methodologies in educational research
  • Ability to examine the relationship between quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Identify theoretical and methodological grounds on which education research is based
  • Analyse the relationship between research questions, method and methodology
  • Assess the efficiency and effectiveness of educational research from different perspectives and methodologies
  • Gain familiarity with different research practices and conduct ‘micro’ studies in the practice of educational research

Minimum requirements 2:ii undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject

English language requirements Band B
(IELTS score to 7 overall, two at 6.0/6.5 & rest 7.0+)

International Students
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications. For more information please visit the international entry requirements page.


For up-to-date information concerning fees, funding and scholarships for Home, EU and Overseas students please visit Warwick's Fees and Funding webpage. Departmental Funding may also be available, check the scholarships that are available at here.

Additional Course Costs

You may wish to undertake some research with children or young people that may require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check or a Certificate of Good Conduct for students from outside of the UK. A DBS check costs around £70 and a Certificate of Good Conduct can vary in price.


Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including: Academy 360; Ark Schools; British Council; Department of Education; E-Act; Oxfordshire County Council; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Royal Academy of Engineering. They have pursued roles such as: actors, entertainers and presenters; business, research and administrative professionals; chief executives and senior officials; education advisers and school inspectors; further education teaching professionals and vocational and industrial trainers and instructors.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

  • Careers in Education
  • Careers with Children and Young People
  • Warwick careers fairs throughout the year

We host bespoke PG visits, where you can talk directly with a member of Education Studies staff and explore our campus through a personalised tour. To find out more about all of these opportunities, visit our Postgraduate Visits page. If you are not in the UK then you are welcome to arrange a phone conversation with the course leader for the programme you are applying for. For this, and to ask any questions you have about your application or studying Education at Warwick, please email educationstudies@warwick.ac.uk