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Course type: Diploma
Credits: 120

Credits

Credits measure the student workload required for the successful completion of a module or qualification.

One credit represents about 10 hours of study over the duration of the course.

You are awarded credits after you have successfully completed a module.

For example, if you study a 60-credit module and successfully pass it, you will be awarded 60 credits.
How long it takes: 2 years part-time study
Read more about how long it takes
Study method: Distance learning
Course cost: See Fees and funding
Entry requirements: Find out more about; Entry requirements

Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education

: Course code: E88

Explore education through the lens of your chosen specialism, whether that’s leadership, inclusion and social justice, or learning and teaching. This professional postgraduate qualification encourages you to relate your learning and theoretical content to your own experiences and context. You’ll also have the flexibility to change your specialism at Stage 2 if you want to diversify your study area. On completion, you can graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education, or choose to continue your studies to achieve an MA or MEd in Education, further advancing your knowledge and professional expertise.

Module	Credits	Next start
Educational leadership: concepts, change and challenges (EE841) Explore educational leadership and management concepts, change, and challenges in local and global contexts. See full description Register	60	03 Oct 2026
Equity, inclusion and social justice in educational practice (EE844) This module introduces contemporary issues in equity, inclusion and social justice in educational practice, including disability, gender, poverty and race. See full description Register	60	03 Oct 2026
Learning and teaching: educating the next generation (EE830) This masters module will challenge you to think about what purposes of education could have and how education can be made fit for the future. See full description Register	60	03 Oct 2026

Module

Credits

Next start

Educational leadership: concepts, change and challenges (EE841)

Explore educational leadership and management concepts, change, and challenges in local and global contexts.

See full description

03 Oct 2026

Equity, inclusion and social justice in educational practice (EE844)

This module introduces contemporary issues in equity, inclusion and social justice in educational practice, including disability, gender, poverty and race.

See full description

03 Oct 2026

Learning and teaching: educating the next generation (EE830)

This masters module will challenge you to think about what purposes of education could have and how education can be made fit for the future.

See full description

03 Oct 2026

Module	Credits	Next start
Learning and Teaching: Understanding your educational practice (EE831) This module focuses on the fundamental concepts of learning, pedagogy, and assessment and explores them from the perspectives of learners, teachers and whole school issues. See full description Register	60	03 Oct 2026 FINAL
Exploring educational leadership: values, context and strategy (EE842) Explore strategic, contextual and values-based educational leadership for the 21st century. See full description Register	60	03 Oct 2026
Social justice, equity and equality: inclusive practice for all (EE845) This module explores social justice issues from different perspectives and how inclusive practices can be fostered to effect change in education settings across a wide range of contexts. See full description Register	60	03 Oct 2026
At Stage 2, you may choose to study the same specialism as you chose in Stage 1, or you can change to a different specialism. However, if you intend to progress to the MA/MED, your choice at Stage 2 here will commit you to that specialism as your Stage 3 dissertation topic.

Module

Credits

Next start

Learning and Teaching: Understanding your educational practice (EE831)

This module focuses on the fundamental concepts of learning, pedagogy, and assessment and explores them from the perspectives of learners, teachers and whole school issues.

See full description

03 Oct 2026 FINAL

Exploring educational leadership: values, context and strategy (EE842)

Explore strategic, contextual and values-based educational leadership for the 21st century.

See full description

03 Oct 2026

Social justice, equity and equality: inclusive practice for all (EE845)

This module explores social justice issues from different perspectives and how inclusive practices can be fostered to effect change in education settings across a wide range of contexts.

See full description

03 Oct 2026

At Stage 2, you may choose to study the same specialism as you chose in Stage 1, or you can change to a different specialism. However, if you intend to progress to the MA/MED, your choice at Stage 2 here will commit you to that specialism as your Stage 3 dissertation topic.

Credit transfer

If you’ve successfully completed 60 credits of relevant postgraduate study elsewhere, you may be able to count it towards Stage 1 of this qualification, by applying for credit transfer, reducing the number of modules you need to study. Credit transfer will impact on the time you have to complete this qualification, and the four-year time limit will start from the time your credit transfer was completed. So, for example, if you use credit transfer that you were awarded two years ago, you will need to complete the remaining 60 credits in two years.

You should apply for credit transfer as soon as possible, before you register for your first module. For more details and an application form, visit our Credit Transfer website.

On completion

On successfully completing this course, we’ll award you our Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education. You’ll be entitled to use the letters PGDPSE (Open) after your name.

You can progress from this Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education to our Masters Degree in Education (F70).

You may also claim the Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Studies in Education (K27) if you wish to do so, although this option is not available if you have used credit transfer or counted previous OU study towards your qualification.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the qualification-specific regulations below and the academic regulations that are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.

Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education

We regularly review our curriculum; therefore, the qualification described on this page – including its availability, its structure, and available modules – may change over time. If we make changes to this qualification, we’ll update this page as soon as possible. Once you’ve registered or are studying this qualification, where practicable, we’ll inform you in good time of any upcoming changes. If you’d like to know more about the circumstances in which the University might make changes to the curriculum, see our Academic Regulations or contact us. This description was last updated on 18 March 2025.

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Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education

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