Design your study to suit your career goals and commitments. Choose from a range of courses covering subjects such as multicultural and international education, educational policy and leadership, youth development, and Māori, Pacific and indigenous education. Or you might explore the issues around sustainability and the environment in education, learn about evaluation and assessment, or develop your skills for teaching bilingual students in mainstream centres and schools. You may wish to focus on a major.

You can complete the Master of Education either by coursework or by a combination of coursework and a thesis or dissertation.

There are examples of how this might look for you within the planning guide (PDF, 230KB).

Or you can complete the coursework-based Postgraduate Certificate in Education or Postgraduate Diploma in Education.

If you are planning on doing a dissertation or thesis course, you'll need to achieve an average grade of B or above for all your other postgraduate courses and a B+ or better in EDUC 503.

You don't have to jump straight in the deep end—study towards your Master of Education using the stair-casing options. The 60-point Postgraduate Certificate in Education is a great first step into postgraduate study and leads to the Postgraduate Diploma in Education which then leads to the Master of Education.

If you enrol in the Master's programme but don't complete it, you may be able to graduate with the Certificate or Diploma.

Talk to a student success adviser to discuss your options.

Each Master of Education course is either online, on campus with weekly scheduled classes or blended with online learning mixed with campus classes which you may be able to join from a distance. Take advantage of flexible study options and study completely online from anywhere in the world or take a mix of online and campus-based courses. You can also choose to study only courses which are in person on campus.

Studying the MEd full time, you can expect a workload of 40 to 45 hours a week.

If you do well in your Master’s research, you can apply to do a PhD, or if you have significant professional experience in education or related fields, you can complete a Doctor of Education (EdD).

The EdD combines taught courses with a substantial research project that will form a thesis.

A PhD usually involves between three and four years of original and sustained research under supervision.

The Faculty of Graduate Research will handle your application and support you throughout your doctoral study. Contact the postgraduate programme director about available supervision before you apply.