Edinburgh: Extraordinary futures await.

Language Education MSc

Awards: MSc

Study modes: Full-time

Funding opportunities

Programme website: Language Education

The broad nature of the programme really appealed to me - the fact that it was 'language education' not 'teaching English', meant that it would leave doors open to potentially teaching [another language] in the future. What I enjoyed most was the group discussions...The diversity of the students meant that I heard invaluable perspectives about language education all over the world.

Georgie Thorman MSc Language Education
Georgie Thorman               MSc Language Education

The Language Education programme is for teachers of ALL languages. Come with an expertise in one or more language(s) and receive training in how to best teach these languages based on the latest research in the field of language education.

The programme is designed to develop the professional knowledge and skills of those with an interest in language and/or the teaching of languages.

We welcome current and future teachers of all languages including:

  • English as a foreign or additional language
  • European languages
  • Mandarin and other world languages
  • Sign Languages
  • any heritage, community or regional languages

The programme will develop your knowledge and critical awareness of how we teach languages, how we learn languages and how we use languages, in order to enable you to best teach the languages you know.

This programme will enable you to become a ‘future thinking’ language educator, empowered to respond to transnational migration flows, digital developments, and various models of language education policy.

The Language Education programme is distinctive – it is positioned in our global world and seeks to develop Language Educators who are agents of change, ensuring their learners are equipped to become multilingual, pluriliterate citizens.

You will learn through a combination of fundamental theory and practice, including classroom observation.

You will benefit from resources and expertise offered by English Language Education at the Centre for Open Learning and the Moray House School of Education and Sport: leading centres for the studies of language and teaching.

The Language Education programme is studied full time. You will complete five compulsory courses and two option courses, plus a dissertation, to be awarded an MSc in Language Education.

Compulsory courses:

  • Language and the Learner
  • Languages, Society and Education
  • Professional Practice
  • Sources of Knowledge: Understanding and analysing research literature
  • Conceptualising Research: Foundations, Assumptions and Praxis

Option courses are subject to change each year but have previously included:

  • Bilingual Education
  • Critical Literacies and Critical Pedagogies in L1 and L2 contexts
  • Corpus Linguistics and Language Teaching
  • Evaluation and Design of TESOL Materials
  • Intercultural Language Learner Identity
  • Investigating Individual Learner Differences
  • Language Awareness for Second Language Teachers
  • Language Testing
  • Online Language Learning
  • Second Language Teacher Education
  • Teaching Languages to Young Learners
  • Teaching texts across borders - from picture books to teenage fiction and film
  • Text, Discourse and Language Teaching

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

AwardTitleDurationStudy mode
MScLanguage Education1 YearFull-timeProgramme structure 2024/25

Graduates of the MSc Language Education can:

  • Show understanding of seminal as well as recent concepts and theories in the field of language education.
  • Critically review and engage with key principles underlying the field of language education.
  • Plan and execute a significant piece of research of your choice relevant to the field of language education.
  • Creatively apply theory to practice in a context-sensitive manner.

This programme will develop your love of language and its teaching. It will give you the knowledge and professional skills you need to enter the challenging field of language education or to extend your current career.

Whether you are a newly qualified or experienced teacher, or you are involved in a related area of language teaching, such as curriculum development, you will benefit from the blend of educational and linguistic foundations on offer.

This qualification will allow you to pursue opportunities in foreign or second language teaching, either as:

  • a newly qualified teacher looking to enter the profession
  • an experienced practitioner seeking to diversify or reinforce your current career
  • a non-qualified teacher with an interest in foreign language tuition

You will also gain a host of valuable transferable skills that you can carry into any career situation.

The MSc Language Education is led by a team of language professionals and researchers with expertise in a wide variety of areas. We are a multilingual and multicultural team with professional experience gained all over the globe in the field of language education.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 July 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Previous teaching experience is not required.

We may also consider your application if you have relevant employment or experience; please contact us to check before you apply.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

If applicants are studying in a Chinese university on our priority list, they must have a minimum overall average of 80% for courses and at least 80% on the dissertation. For applicants at any recognised university not on our priority list, they must have an average of 85% for courses and 80% on the dissertation.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

  • IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
  • C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
  • PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 65 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
  • Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 7 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

Tuition fees

AwardTitleDurationStudy mode
MScLanguage Education1 YearFull-timeTuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

  • borrowing money
    • taking out a loan
    • family support
  • personal savings
  • income from work
  • employer sponsorship
  • scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

GREAT scholarship: Mexico

One GREAT scholarship will be available to applicants from Mexico who apply for 2024 entry. This award is for £10,000 towards postgraduate taught (Masters) degree tuition. Further details on eligibility criteria and how to apply can be found on the GREAT scholarship website.

India Merit Scholarship

The University is offering a new international scholarship for the most academically gifted Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Masters students applying from India. These awards cover £5,000 towards tuition fees for PGT Masters students studying on campus during the 2024/25 academic year. The Scholarships will be tenable for the first year of study only and will be automatically deducted from your student tuition fee balance. 

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

  • your programme
  • the duration of your studies
  • your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

  • Moray House School of Education and Sport
  • Old Moray House
  • Holyrood Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH8 8AQ

Due to high demand, this programme operates a gathered field approach to admissions, with two application deadlines as noted below.

Each application round has a decision deadline, also listed below, but note that we may make offers to the strongest candidates on an ongoing basis, in advance of the published decision deadline.

We strongly recommend that you apply as early as possible, especially if you intend to apply for funding. Applications may close earlier than published deadlines if there is exceptionally high demand. If you are considering applying for our pre-sessional English Language programme, please make sure you apply in Round 1.

Please note that for an application to be reviewed, it must be a complete application by the deadline with all supporting documentation uploaded, including references and transcripts. English language documentation can be submitted later but if you have already met the English language entry requirements for your programme at the time of application, your application may be considered more competitive in selection than applications where an English language test still needs to be taken.

Selection deadlines

Round Application Deadline Places awarded
1 13 January 2025 17 April 2025
2 29 May 2025 30 June 2025

Deadlines for UK/Scotland fee status

After Round 2, if there are still places available, applications will remain open only to applicants who are eligible for the UK/Scotland fee rate, including the EU/EEA Pre-settled Scotland fee status. Applications will remain open no later than 30 June 2025 and may close earlier than this if the programme becomes full, so we strongly recommend you apply as soon as possible.

If you apply with another fee status after 29 May 2025, your application will be rejected.

(Revised 18 October 2024 to add application deadlines and selection process information)

You must submit one reference with your application.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

Further information

  • Moray House School of Education and Sport
  • Old Moray House
  • Holyrood Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH8 8AQ