Primary Education with QTS with Foundation Year

Teaching in primary schools is one of the most consequential roles in the education system. Primary teachers work with children at the most formative stage of their formal education, shaping their relationship with learning, developing their literacy and numeracy, and helping them build the social and emotional foundations that underpin everything that follows. At Birmingham City University, the BA Primary Education with QTS with Foundation Year is a four-year full-time programme that leads to Qualified Teacher Status, enabling you to teach in primary schools across England and Wales.

The foundation year ensures that students who need additional preparation before entering the main professional programme can access the degree with confidence.

The programme develops your subject knowledge across the primary curriculum alongside the pedagogical skills needed to teach effectively. You will learn how children develop cognitively, socially, and emotionally at different ages, and how to design learning experiences that engage children with diverse needs, backgrounds, and abilities. School experience placements are central to the programme: you will spend significant time in primary classrooms under the supervision of experienced teachers, developing your practice in real educational settings and building the reflective habits that effective teachers require.

The programme also develops your understanding of educational policy, safeguarding, inclusion, and the professional standards expected of qualified teachers in England.

Graduates who achieve Qualified Teacher Status are eligible to teach in state-funded primary schools in England and Wales. Primary teaching offers consistent employment, a clear career progression through roles including subject lead, assistant head, deputy head, and headteacher, and the opportunity to work in a wide range of school contexts from urban to rural, in mainstream and specialist provision. Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in educational leadership, special educational needs, or education research.

Others take their teaching qualification to work in international schools or to pursue careers in educational publishing, training, or advisory roles. The combination of subject knowledge, professional practice, and educational theory that the programme develops provides a thorough and practical preparation for a career in primary teaching.