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Education (MA by Research)

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

How to apply Order a prospectusPostgraduate Open Days
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This course is eligible for Master's loan funding. Find out more.

Start date

16 September 2024

6 January 2025

21 April 2025

Duration

The maximum duration for an MA by Research is 1 year (12 months) full-time or 2 years (24 months) part-time with an optional submission pending (writing-up) period of 4 months.

Sometimes it may be possible to mix periods of both full-time and part-time study.

If studying on a part-time basis, you must establish close links with the University and spend normally not less than an average of 10 working days per year in the university, excluding participation in activities associated with enrolment, re-registration and progression monitoring. You are also expected to dedicate 17.5 hours per week to the research.

Application deadlines

For September 2024

07 June 2024 for International and Scholarship Students

28 June 2024 for Home Students

For October 2024

07 June 2024 for International and Scholarship Students

28 June 2024 for Home Students

For January 2025

18 October 2024 for International and Scholarship Students

15 November 2024 for Home Students

For April 2025

24 January 2025 for International and Scholarship Students

21 February 2025 for Home Students

About the research degree

Reasons to study

  1. 98.4% of our postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating.
  2. Tailor your studies to suit your particular areas of interest or future career goals.
  3. You'll be part of a supportive and vibrant research environment for postgraduate researchers.

A Master's by Research (MA) allows you to undertake a one year full-time or two years part-time research degree. It contains little or no formal taught component. This type of study gives you the chance to explore a research topic over a shorter time than a more in-depth doctoral programme, but it still requires independent study.

Research Master's students choose a specific project to work on and have a greater degree of independence in their work than is the case with a taught Master’s course.

You are expected to work to an approved programme of work which you will develop within the first few months of commencement of study, in conjunction with your supervisor. Whilst undertaking the research project, under the supervision of the supervisor, you will also develop your research skills.

At the end of the project you write up your findings in the form of a short thesis of around 25,000 words and this will then be examined.

You will be appointed a main supervisor who will advise and support you on your project.

On successful completion, you will be awarded your degree and if you have enjoyed this taste of research you may then decide to apply for the full research doctoral degree (PhD).

Entry requirements

The normal entry requirements for enrolment on a MA by Research is an Honours degree (2:1 or above) from a UK university or an equivalent in a discipline appropriate to that of the proposed programme to be followed.

A research proposal will be needed of between 500-700 words (plus bibliography) delineating your proposed area of research. Don't choose something too broad; your research must be achievable in the time. This detail will be reviewed in conjunction with your online research degree application to identify academic supervision providing the necessary expertise and knowledge to guide you through your research degree.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.5 overall with no element lower than 6.0, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

What can I research?

There are several research topics available for this degree. See below examples of research areas including an outline of the topics, the supervisor, funding information and eligibility criteria:

Outline

Research topics could focus on any age group or community including the impact of government policies such as ‘Prevent’, the extent to which the political and organisational policies and frameworks facilitate / inhibit the translation of values into practice; marginalisation; faith, culture and pedagogies; policy work around cohesion, community perceptions of community cohesion, education and extremism.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on a wide range of topics related to Career Development and Employability, including Policy, strategy and organisations, e.g. Higher Education institutions' responses to the employability policy agenda, the changing role and position of Careers Services; Transitions and ideas of success, e.g. School/FE to HE transitions in a careers education and guidance context, social mobility and equality; 'Getting in and getting on'- the relationship between access, experience and graduate success, data and metrics for career development and employability; Internationalisation, e.g. student mobility and international students; Professional practice, e.g. employer engagement and employer perspectives on graduate attraction and recruitment.

Funding

There are currently no scholarships or School fee waivers available

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on children and young people’s perspectives on and experiences of formal schooling; developing ethical practice in early years settings; young adults and the ‘gig economy’; young people, youth, unemployment, work, poverty, crime, class, inequality and the significance of place, children’s physical development; educational and labour market experiences of marginalised youth, and experiences of teachers, support workers and other practitioners working with young people.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on the management of change; Education for the knowledge economy; internationalisation, Leadership in early childhood education and care, professionalisation of the Early Years workforce, teacher development.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on youth and community work (its history and practices), adult literacy and numeracy, the provision of accessible routes into education; youth work education in HE settings,the impact of class, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality on outcomes.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on narrative and feminist approaches to research; participatory, creative and visual methods, research ethics; quantitative research methods in educational research; ethnographic approaches.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on any aspect of work undertaken in further and /or higher education colleges, the re-engineering of education, the political economy of education, lived experience; workplace learning, cognitive capitalism and emancipatory practice; IELTS and English language teaching / learning.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics might focus on relationships between educational practitioners and students / participants / clients; education, politics and questions of social justice; Professional identity, agency and autonomy; education and popular culture; the translation of professional values into practice, the way in which practitioners draw on their professional value-base to inform their work with young people and the wider community, employability and ‘care’, learner autonomy.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on young people’s experiences of alternative education provisions; home education; interventions aimed at retaining and improving the outcomes for students at risk of leaving education or of underachieving.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on education for sustainability in particular countries or contexts, curriculum design.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on blended learning; critical understanding of technology within higher education teaching and learning; critical understanding of learner analytical dashboards in higher education, social networking and social media in education, multimedia pedagogy, e-tutoring.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

Outline

Research topics could focus on confidence and teacher educators; work-based learning – developing reflective practice; effective work place mentoring; the links between education and national development, vocational pedagogy, research about FE-based teacher educators, trainee teachers and FE-based teacher education.

Funding

Please see our Scholarships page to find out about funding or studentship options available.

Deadline

Supervisors

How to apply

You can apply by: 1) Proposing your own research topic. Explore the skills of our supervisors and/or at the Huddersfield Centre for Research in Education and Society (HudCRES) to see if we have the expertise to support your topic. 2) Applying for one of the research topics listed in this section or for a specific research area within the School.

Places are always subject to eligibility, a review of your proposal and supervisory capacity.

Your career

This MA course provides you with a broad range of module options allowing you the opportunity to tailor the programme to suit your current role and/or future career ambitions. Successful study at this level supports you in your current role, helps give you the confidence to tackle a wide range of workplace challenges and supports you in taking advantage of wider promotional and developmental opportunities.

The course offers a recognised qualification, a broadening of horizons and a chance to pursue particular areas of interest.

*Percentage of our postgraduate students who go on to work and/or further study within six months of graduating (Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2016/17).

98.4% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Researcher Environment

Our postgraduate researchers contribute to our thriving research culture at Huddersfield, in return we provide an experience that enhances your potential and inspires you to think big and become a globally competitive researcher.

Join our community of like-minded people who are passionate for research and gain access to world-leading facilities, advanced research skills training, and expert careers advice.

Reduced inequalities

We recently ranked 6 out of 796 global institutions for reduced inequalities in the Times Higher Impact ratings – this recognises our research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination and commitment to recruit staff and students from underrepresented groups (THE Impact Rankings 2022).

World-leading

We are in the top 50 UK universities for research power, and nearly two thirds of our research environment is classified as world leading and internationally excellent (REF2021).

As a researcher, you’ll gain access to our Researcher Skills Development Programme through the Graduate School, to help broaden your knowledge and access tools and skills to improve your employability. The programme is mapped against Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework (RDF), you’ll benefit from Vitae’s career support as well as our own programme. We also have a team dedicated to improving the academic English needed for research by our international PGRs. Our training is delivered in a variety of ways to take advantage of online platforms as well as face-to-face workshops and courses. You can access a range of bespoke training opportunities and in-person events that are tailored to each stage of your journey, including: * sessions on PhD thesis writing, publications and journals, post-doctoral opportunities, poster and conference presentations, networking, and international travel opportunities * opportunity to work and study abroad via the Turing Scheme through The Graduate School * externally accredited training programme with Advance HE (HEA) and CMI * online research training support accessed through a dedicated researcher module in Brightspace, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment * We also hold a series of PGR focussed events such as 3 Minute Thesis * PGR led research conference * informal events throughout the year.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

When you are offered a place on a research degree, your offer will include confirmation of your supervisory team, and the topic you will be researching and will be governed by our terms & Conditions, student handbook and relevant policies. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Whilst the University will use reasonable efforts to ensure your supervisory team remains the same, sometimes it may be necessary to make changes to your team for reasons outside the University’s control, for example if your supervisor leaves the University, or suffers from long term illness. Where this is the case, we will discuss these difficulties with you and seek to either put in place a new supervisory team, or help you to transfer to another research facility, in accordance with our Student Protection Plan.

Changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, for example the University being unable to access it’s buildings due to fire, flood or pandemic, or the University no longer being able to provide specialist equipment. Where this is the case, we will discuss these issues with you and agree any necessary changes.

Your research project is likely to evolve as you work on it and these minor changes are a natural and expected part of your study. However, we may need to make more significant changes to your topic of research during the course of your studies, either because your area of interest has changed, or because we can no longer support your research for reasons outside the University’s control. If this is the case, we will discuss any changes in topic with you and agree these in writing. If you are an international student, changing topics may affect your visa or ATAS clearance and if this is the case we will discuss this with you before any changes are made.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.