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About the course

The MSc Education (Comparative and International Education) offers you an understanding of the factors that shape the development and trajectories of educational systems in different parts of the world and the research skills to compare policy choices and critically evaluate the major debates in the delivery of public and private education.

The teaching style adopted is usually a combination of tutor and student input, and is reliant on students' reading of key texts, preparation of arguments, responses to a presentation and/or analysis of documents and various group activities. Students that make up the cohort have different professional and academic backgrounds and different perspectives on how the degree will best enable them to engage with their future careers. As such, students are encouraged to take charge of their studies by reading widely beyond the course materials and engaging their tutors in discussion about things that they are passionate about. In February each year the course moves to Paris for a week for seminars at UNESCO, the OECD and the Institute for International Educational Planning (IIEP).

Assessment

The course is assessed through one unseen three-hour examination paper, five written assignments and a dissertation. The dissertation of 15,000 to 20,000 words is written under close supervision throughout the academic year. Much of the fieldwork (if any) or interrogation of the archives, takes place during Trinity term. Dissertations reflect the cross-disciplinary nature of the field of study and draw on methods across the social sciences. On the whole, students select topics that can be examined through small-scale empirical research, but this is not a requirement. No preference is afforded to dissertations that rely on fieldwork and travel above those that rely mainly on secondary or archival sources.

Graduate destinations

Many alumni of MSc Education (Comparative and International Education) course have gone on to academic and research careers at universities in the UK and abroad. Others are employed across a wide range of other sectors such as policy for government departments, NGOs or think tanks, international organisations, administration at local and national levels, as well as state and non-state schools in different parts of the world.