About This Course
This core module equips students to design, conduct, and critically evaluate independent educational research. Students will also engage with international literature, explore diverse methodologies, and apply theoretical perspectives to produce meaningful enquiry within their own professional context.
Who is this course suitable for?
Practitioners currently working within the education sector. This may include, but is not restricted to:
- Senior leaders
- Teachers
- Teaching assistants
- ALNCos
- Practitioners working in the local authority
- School improvement partners
- Estyn staff
Why study this course?
By the end of the module students should be able to:
- Plan their own independent research/enquiry studies within their own school/education context or setting.
- Critically engage with the international research literature in ways that inform their independent research and ongoing professional practice
- Reflect upon the current theoretical debates within the social sciences and within educational research in order to inform their decisions around research design and enquiry.
- Critically evaluate advanced research/enquiry processes including research design, data analyses and data representation.
- Critically evaluate different research paradigms, methodologies and perspectives and apply these within their own professional context.
How long does this course take to complete?
This short course runs over one academic year.
Information about any assessments?
This module requires students to produce a 4000 word research proposal.
Course Content
What will you study on this course?
This module prepares students to undertake independent research within their own educational context by developing advanced enquiry and analytical skills essential for Master’s-level study. Learners will critically explore a range of research paradigms, theoretical frameworks, and methodological approaches that underpin effective educational research, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods enquiry.
Students will gain expertise in designing and planning small-scale research studies, including literature reviews, data collection and analysis techniques, and effective presentation of findings. The module also offers a comprehensive introduction to research ethics, enabling learners to conduct enquiry that is both methodologically sound and ethically responsible.
By engaging with international educational literature, students will explore how global research perspectives can inform and enrich local practice. They will be encouraged to apply these insights to shape their own professional enquiry, ensuring their research is relevant, evidence-informed, and contextually grounded.
By the end of the module, students will be equipped with the critical tools and confidence to independently design and conduct a research or enquiry-based project that contributes meaningfully to their professional development and practice.
Further information
All online workbooks are available bilingually. Where possible, online synchronous sessions will be offered in both Welsh and English. However, please note that if there are insufficient Welsh-speaking participants to enable meaningful discussion, you may be invited to join an English-medium session
Course Cost
The cost of this course is £975.00
Entry Requirements
Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree in any subject. To be able to complete reflective activities within the workbooks and assignments, applicants must also hold a current role within the education sector.
Level of English language skills
Fluent
Level of Welsh language skills
Fluent if you are completing the course via the Welsh Medium.
Not required if you are completing the course via the English Medium.
Application
How to Apply
Please make sure you read and follow the step-by-step application guide as this will specify which sections of the application form are compulsory for the type of course you want to apply for and save you time.
Please prepare the following information (in a Word document):
- Current employment details;
- Years of experience, and employment history (where relevant)
- Name of staff member and organisation that have approved your funding for this module.
This will speed up the process of completing the application form
To apply for this course, you need to create an account in our
You will need access to the email address you specify while creating your account to confirm it.
After creating an account, you will see a homepage with several tabs:
- Personal
- Programme
- Info
- Contact
- Education
- Employment
- Language
- Finance
You need to complete all sections before submitting your application.
When a section is complete, a ‘tick’ symbol will appear below it.
- Click on ‘Non-graduating applications / Stand alone Modules’, then select ‘Non-graduating Undergraduate’.
- In the next section, select Non-Graduating Taught Modules in Education Click Save and Continue.
- On the next page, the default for the first question is Full Time. You need to change this to ‘Part time’:
- You now need to input the module code. Advanced Research and Enquiry Skills: the code is XME-4312; XMC-4312 (depending on language medium). This section must be completed for your application to be processed.
- You also need to state the start date. Please make your selection, then click ‘Save and Continue’.
- IMPORTANT: You do not need to write a personal statement to apply for this course. Instead, please upload the document including employment, experience and education information that you have created prior to starting the application that contains the name of your current employer, the number of years of experience you have, and your highest qualification to date. Click Save and continue.
You only need to enter the details of your highest qualification to date, e.g. if you have a postgraduate qualification, please only only include this.
You will be asked for evidence of the qualification. Please either upload a copy of your qualification if it's easily accessible, or upload the Word document again (that you prepared earlier).
Please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘I have no employment history’ (as you have already provided this in your Word document).
If you are funded, please answer the questions as follows:
- How will you finance your studies? Sponsored
- Exact name of funding authority:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Give details of the amount of the award? Fully funded.
- Sponsorship will cover: Tuition Fees
- Have you been awarded this funding? Please select ‘yes’ * Note that you will be required to upload evidence of the funding. If you wish to confirm ‘yes’ to this question, but do not have any written confirmation to upload, you can upload your Word document here again.
If you are self-funding, please provide all details as appropriate.