BSc (Hons) Secondary Teaching Studies (Physics)

What does education really look like beyond your own school experience? This module opens new perspectives on how education works, with a particular focus on secondary schools.

Starting with your own experiences, you’ll explore what education means, how it differs from schooling, and how its purpose has evolved over time. You’ll examine how education is shaped locally, nationally, and globally- through the English National Curriculum and a range of alternative approaches, including SEND provision, Montessori, and other progressive models.

With regular school visits, you’ll see secondary education in action, exploring how teachers plan, support diverse learners, and respond to issues such as inclusion, safeguarding, and sustainability. You’ll also consider education from different viewpoints - including students, teachers, families, and wider society.

Broaden your perspective, build your academic skills, and take your first step towards a career in secondary education.

This module explores the “Big Questions” in Education, drawing on key thinkers and theorists from across many periods of history and diverse locations across the globe. It will prepare you for undertaking your own research later in the degree, and provide broad horizons to challenge some of your preconceptions and expectations about education.

What if you could gain real classroom experience while developing the skills to become a reflective educator? This module gives you the opportunity to take part in an extended paid or voluntary work placement and bring your learning to life.

Whether you choose a local school, an alternative setting, or even an international experience, you’ll immerse yourself in environments that support children’s learning and development. Along the way, you’ll observe teaching in action and explore how theory, policy, and pedagogy shape real educational practice.

A key focus of the module is reflection. You’ll learn how to use professional reflective models to critically evaluate your experiences, developing the mindset and skills needed to grow as a thoughtful, adaptable practitioner.

Gain valuable experience, think like a professional, and take a confident step towards your future in teaching.

Following focused input from your lecturers, this module provides the opportunity to explore a particular topic of interest to you, supported by a tutor. Whether you want to learn more about child development, pedagogy, approaches to behavior management or an aspect of the school curriculum, you will be supported to develop critical insights into real life practice.

Explore Newton's Laws and extend them to simple fluid dynamics, then study the experimental and theoretical foundations of Quantum Mechanics.

Develop your maths abilities to solve physics problems and formulate the outcome of your experiments in the lab.

Discover electrostatics and magnetostatics and apply your knowledge of them to real-world scenarios. You'll further develop your maths skills, delving into the realm of differential equations and their applications, which extend well beyond physics.

Undertake a journey to unveil some of the most fascinating wonders of the cosmos, from the physics that regulates the dance of planetary systems to the formation and evolution of stars, galaxies and the large-scale structure of the Universe. You'll explore the physics of the optical systems that enable astronomical observations.

In this module you will hone your skills in reflective practice, reflecting on contributions from a variety of speakers and experts in addition to visits to a range of learning settings for children of different ages. This will include both formal and informal learning settings.