Our BA Primary Education with Art Specialism (QTS) course will develop your talents as an artist and teacher, and champion your passion for art within primary education.
This course will enable you to get a job as a primary school teacher following graduation. There is a high demand for specialist primary school teachers and many of our graduates go on to become subject leaders. Furthermore, we have strong links with schools.
You will divide your time between studying modules on professional skills and curriculum subjects, and developing your artistic skills and knowledge. The former will introduce you to the core National Curriculum subjects, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
You will develop skills essential to the role of a teacher, including leadership, classroom management, and evaluation and assessment. You can then put these skills into practice through professional placements, which take place throughout the course. Additionally you will study professional legal requirements, and investigate the role of the teacher and how children develop. Your final year will involve research engagement, developing reflective critical thinking and application of theory into your teaching practice. You will also engage in professional studies, which include gaining school experience through teaching placements in partnership primary schools.
In the National Student Survey 2024, 96% of our students said the course has developed the knowledge and skills they think they will need for their future (National Student Survey 2024, 95.73% of responders from the Institute of Education).
The art specialism will develop you as a skilled artist by exploring a range of different media, materials and techniques. During your three years on the specialism, you will have access to a range of excellent facilities including a large print room, ceramic and kiln space, a dark room and, importantly, your own studio bay where you can develop and research your own art-making. Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to investigate how to transfer your skills, knowledge and understanding of the subject of art into the primary classroom in order to influence and affect how children can learn with, and through, art.
Through an examination of art education initiatives, you will identify and understand how art can contribute to the primary curriculum and education of all children. You will engage on a practical level in order to facilitate developing art practices as imaginative and innovative artist teachers. You will gain a critical insight and knowledge of contemporary art and its use in the classroom.
Issue-based art education will be key to your studies, where you will consider art-based pedagogies linked to global citizenship, social justice, inclusion and diversity. In both your second and third years, you will develop practical projects, showcasing your developing skills as an art subject leader.