What Can I Do With a Masters in Education?

Common jobs for people with a Masters in Education include special education teacher, higher education teacher, private tutor and corporate trainer. Outside of teaching roles, you could also become an education policy analyst, instructional designer or education consultant, among other roles. The highest paying role a Masters in Education might lead to would be school headteacher, with a starting salary of £56,000 a year.

The temptation to just say ‘teaching’ and drop the mic is very real on this one, believe me. Compared to, say, a Masters in Creative Writing, a Masters in Education is more straightforward in the roles it’ll be relevant for. That’s compounded by the fact that they’re usually completed by existing teachers looking to ‘upskill’ into more specialised/senior roles rather than newly-minted teachers.

However, saying that a Masters in Education is only relevant to direct teaching roles is a mistake. As you likely already know (I mean, it’s in the bolded intro), there are quite a few roles around education where a Masters would be quite useful. Legends say it can come with a pay bump, too, but I can’t put words in your school’s mouth (that would be highly unsanitary).

So, let’s review our lesson plan, shall we? I’m going to cover some common teaching roles, some more roles that aren’t directly teaching, general transferrable skills, and the question of a Masters in Education vs a Masters in your teaching subject. There won’t be a test at the end, but this will count towards 10% of your imaginary FindAMasters grade (the other 90% is actually finding your Masters, to no one’s surprise).

What are some of my options for studying Education?

Transferrable skills from a Masters in Education

If you decide you’d like to exit the education sector at some point after you’ve completed your degree, there are still a variety of transferrable skills that will help you in future roles. The skill you’ll gain will typically depend on the type of Masters you study.

MEd (Master of Education)

MEd degrees are considered ‘professional’ qualifications (I suppose that makes the others ‘unprofessional’), focussing more on the practical skills required to teach at a high level. Despite that, administration and counselling skills can still be carried over into non-teaching jobs.

MA in Education

As an arts degree, the MA in Education puts a stronger focus on research and discussion, and you’ll need to complete a dissertation to finish the course. As such, the core skills you’ll build in an MA are typically discussion and analysis.

MSc in Education

An MSc in Education is extremely research based, even more than an MA. If you’re completing one of these, you’re probably angling for a career in research and/or academics, so the outcomes are a little different. Naturally, research and analysis skills will be strongly developed in these kinds of programmes.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

A PGCE isn’t technically a Masters degree, but since it is a postgraduate qualification I thought I should at least mention it. Like the MEd, the PGCE is a professional qualification, albeit one focussed on getting those without prior teaching qualifications up to speed with teaching practice. As such, the transferrable skills are ones teachers are typically known for: communication, organisation and adaptability.

Should I get a Masters in Education or a Masters in the subject I teach?

Interesting question! To answer this, I’m going to ask you some questions.

Are you certain you’ll remain a teacher for your whole career?

If you are, a Masters in Education will give you a good push on getting more senior positions and an average pay increase of £12,800 compared to undergraduates (according to official data). If not, a Masters in your teaching subject might be more useful as it can be more easily applied to non-teaching roles.

If you’re a teacher who doesn’t require a Masters in your subject to teach it, do you ever see yourself wanting to teach at a level where you would?

If so, a Masters in your subject of choice will probably be the way to go. If you then teach at that level for a while and think that a follow up Masters in Education might be beneficial, you can always look into doing one later.

Do you think you can handle studying your subject at a higher level?

Sometimes the jump in knowledge required between a Bachelors and a Masters can be a lot, and there’s no shame in thinking you might struggle. If so, a Masters in Education might be a safer choice.

Is there a defined job market for a Masters in your subject?

If so, a Masters in your subject becomes a lot more appealing as a ‘backup plan’. If it’s a Masters without a clear A=B career trajectory, you might be equally well off completing a Masters in Education. Perhaps choose whichever sounds the most interesting in this case.

Tips from the author

#1 Poll your postgraduate colleagues

If you’re thinking of doing a Masters in Education and you know someone who’s already done one, I’d recommend (politely) grilling them for info. They’ll be able to tell you their own lived experience with how the Masters in Education may have benefited them, and that’ll be extra useful if they’re at the same institution as you.

#2 Part-time study is an option (but be careful)

If you can’t take some time out to study your Masters in Education, plenty of universities offer options to study the degree part time. However, if workload issues are already a problem for you (you’re not alone in that, no doubt), you might want to consider this option carefully. It’s not going to do you any good to burn yourself out trying to do both at once.

#3 Make sure to get the right kind of Masters for your learning goals

I’ve detailed the typical differences between MA, MEd and MSc in the article above, so use those as a guideline to find Masters that are going to benefit you the most. If you’re all about practical stuff above all else (and research doesn’t hugely interest you), go for a MEd. If research and the ‘why’ of education is more your speed, look into an MA or MSc instead (but of course, always be sure to give the degree specs a good read).

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