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BA (Hons)

Teaching & Learning (Top-Up)

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Why study this course

Blended learning delivery, small numbers of days on campus and remote face to face sessions

Continue working or volunteering while pursing your degree, providing you will valuable practical experience alongside your academic studies

Supports your development towards becoming a teacher, advancing in your current role, or taking on more senior or specialist positions

Course summary

This programme is the natural progression for students who have completed the University’s Foundation Degree in Teaching and Learning. It is also open to applicants with other, similar qualifications from the University or other institutions. The BA (Hons) Teaching and Learning degree offers a flexible route to gaining a bachelor's qualification while continuing to work or volunteer regularly in a setting that supports learning. It may appeal to those working not only in schools, but also in wider community, support, or care roles where teaching and learning are a core focus.

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Key facts

Award	BA (Hons)
Typical offer	96 points
Duration	3 years
Mode of study	Full time, Blended
Start date	September 2027
Award	Lincoln Bishop University
Institution code	B38

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About this course

The BA (Hons) degree is a blended, work-based programme that combines practical learning with live online teaching and occasional campus sessions. You will attend online classes twice a week in real time, along with five in-person teaching days across the academic year. This format is designed to make it possible to continue working or volunteering while you study.

Throughout the one-year programme, you will build on your previous study and professional experience to develop a deeper understanding of current issues, practice, and practitioner research in teaching and learning. The programme welcomes applicants from a range of learning contexts, including primary and secondary education, the lifelong learning sector, and broader roles that support learners across all ages.

The modules will encourage you to critically reflect on your own practice, analyse key systems and policies, and explore professional challenges through topics such as leadership, contemporary social and political issues, and critical approaches to pedagogy. You will also undertake an independent research project to support your development as a graduate practitioner.

While the degree continues to be relevant to those working as teaching assistants or in learning support roles within schools and colleges, it also welcomes those in wider learning contexts such as early childhood settings, youth services, or adult learning environments. Collaborating with students from related degree courses will help you broaden your understanding of the wider educational landscape.

Graduates may go on to pursue careers in advanced support roles, team leadership, teacher training, or further study at postgraduate level.

Scheduled Teaching Hours

Foundation Degree programmes consist of 240 HE credits, with each credit equating to 10 hours of learning.

Depending upon the mode of delivery (i.e. face-to-face/in-person, online or a blend of these) and whether your course is full-time or part-time, the delivery of the scheduled hours for the programme will involve taught input, independent study, and where applicable, work-based or placement hours.

What you will study

Students on this course currently study some or all of the following modules:

Course modules

This module introduces you to the planning and design of an independent study and serves as a prerequisite for the Level 6 final independent study module. It introduces you to, and guides you through planning a research question, deciding on an appropriate research method and sample group that will allow you to complete the small-scale research project in Independent Study Part 2 module. In addition, you will create a research proposal by and engage in theoretical and practical principles, as well as learning to recognise your own limitations. The module is based on ethical concepts and policies, and you will study ethical complexity in connection to your chosen research subject and show this by participating in the ethical approval process.

This module will develop your capacity for critical thinking and analysis and encourage you to form and articulate an argument which is robustly supported by relevant sources. The module will enable you to study a pertinent, critical issue within your sector. Taught content will offer examples of current, and potential future issues in the field of early childhood, childhood and youth and education.

By exploring a range of issues, the teaching and learning strategy undertakes to present a model of how to select and investigate a critical issue and craft an argument that draws upon (for example) practice-based evidence, national/local statistics, published research and established theory. You will investigate the political, social and/or economic drivers behind your chosen issue and consider the implications for professional practice. These may include, for example, the contribution of multi-agency colleagues, international perspectives and the barriers and affordances of the issue within your own work setting and professional practice.

This module supports you in critically exploring the nature and practice of leadership within a range of professional contexts. It enables you to develop an advanced understanding of leadership, with a focus on leadership styles, collaborative working, and the ability to influence positive change within a workplace environment. You are introduced to a range of theories and principles including, but not limited to, leadership, communication, and teamwork.

This module supports you in becoming critically reflective and responsive practitioners, equipped to deliver high-quality teaching and learning across a range of settings.

You will explore key theories of learning and teaching, critically evaluating how these can be applied to meet the diverse needs of their learners. The module highlights the importance of practitioner agency in working with curriculum frameworks and adapting to the social, emotional, and cultural contexts of learning. The module also considers approaches to pedagogy and andragogy within a range of contexts, including early years and alternative provision.

You will explore strategies for engaging learners who may have experienced disrupted education, exclusion, or other challenges impacting their learning journey. Through reflective practice and engagement with current research and policy, you will develop your own pedagogical approach, connecting theory with personal values and professional experience

The Independent Study builds on earlier inquiry-based studies and acts as a culmination of studies. This module provides an opportunity for you to carry out a small-scale research project related to your work supporting children, young people and/or families demonstrating the ability to manage your own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources. The subject is founded on ethical concepts and principles, and you will investigate ethical complexity in relation to your research topic of choice. This module requires you to draw on and apply the broad knowledge-base and research skills that have been developed across your undergraduate studies in a fully developed individual, inquiry-based study. You will review research design, methods, and data collection and analysis tools and software appropriate to practitioner research. Ethical issues will be addressed, including the key principles of informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality. There will be an emphasis on enabling you to demonstrate the limitations and uncertainty of knowledge and the influence of perspective and theoretical approaches on findings and conclusions. The importance of writing with a high degree of accuracy and fluency for an academic audience will be reinforced and made a clear expectation.

Entry requirements

Typical offer
UCAS points	96

Applicants will typically have 240 HE credits from a Foundation degree or a HE Diploma in a relevant field of study.
Applicants are expected have a current (or prospective) voluntary or paid employment in a relevant setting for a minimum of 360 hours per academic year equating to 12 hours per week of study.
Typically, applicants are expected to have three years of experience in a voluntary or paid role working with children.
Students are required to complete and submit a signed Workplace Agreement, endorsed by the head teacher or workplace manager of the setting where they are employed or volunteer.

Further information

Click here for important information about this course including additional costs, resources and key policies.

In accordance with University conditions, students are entitled to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning, RP(C)L, based on relevant credit at another HE institution or credit Awarded for Experiential Learning, (RP(E)L).

How you will be taught

There is no one-size-fits-all method of teaching at Lincoln Bishop – we shape our methods to suit each subject and each group, combining the best aspects of traditional university teaching with innovative techniques to promote student participation and interactivity.

You will be taught in a variety of ways, from lectures, tutorials and seminars, to practical workshops, coursework and work-based placements. Small group seminars and workshops will provide you with an opportunity to review issues raised in lectures, and you will be expected to carry out independent study.

Placements are a key part of degree study within many courses at Lincoln Bishop. They provide an enriching learning experience for you to apply the skills and knowledge you will gain from your course and, in doing so, give valuable real-world experience to boost your career.

Assessment

The course adopts a varied and balanced approach to assessment, offering you multiple opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, and practical skills in ways that reflect the diversity of your strengths and professional experiences. Assessments are carefully staged to support your academic development, with increasing complexity over time to build confidence, deepen criticality, and develop capability in higher-level academic literacies and transferable skills.

Careers & Further study

Employability is at the heart of the BA(HONS) Teaching and Learning programme. The curriculum is explicitly designed to enhance your professional skills, workplace confidence, and career progression opportunities. The programme structure ensures that, on graduation, you are well-prepared to progress into higher-level roles in education and care, undertake further academic study, or move into specialised professional pathways.

What Our Students Say

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Support

Studying at Lincoln Bishop is a student-centred experience. Staff and students work together in a friendly and supportive atmosphere as part of an intimate campus community. You will know every member of staff personally and feel confident approaching them for help and advice, and staff members will recognise you, not just by sight, but as an individual with unique talents and interests.

We will be there to support you, personally and academically, from induction to graduation.

Are you a parent or carer supporting someone starting university? Visit our Parents’ Information page for advice, guidance, and reassurance.

Fees & Funding

A lot of student finance information is available from numerous sources, but it is sometimes confusing and contradictory. That’s why at Lincoln Bishop we try to give you all the information and support we can to help to throughout the process. Our Student Advice team are experts in helping you sort out the funding arrangements for your studies, offering a range of services to guide you through all aspects of student finance step by step.

Click here to find information about fees, loans and support which will help to make the whole process a little easier to understand.

Undergraduate course applicants should apply via UCAS using the relevant UCAS code. For 2026 entry, the application fee is £28.95, and you can make a maximum of 5 choices.

For 2027/28 entry the UCAS fee is £34.50.

Undergraduate and PGCE fees for 2027 entry will be confirmed following a UK Government announcement by the Department for Education (DfE), expected in late 2026.

For all applicants, there are full instructions at UCAS to make it as easy as possible for you to fill in your online application, plus help text where appropriate. Full details of all tuition fees can be found here.