Physical Education MA (Hons)

Level: Undergraduate

Subject: Education

Year of entry: 2027 (show 2026 entry)

Key facts

UCAS Code

XC61

Award

MA (Hons)

Duration of study

4 years

Delivery

Full-time

Study location

Multiple campuses

Start date

September 2027

School

Moray House School of Education and Sport

College

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Accreditation

Available

Placement

Mandatory

Open days and events

About the degree programme

Physical education (PE) offers a range of activities that engage children and young people in purposeful, worthwhile, fun, enriching learning experiences. 

We aim to educate teachers who can teach and motivate children and young people to live active lives. PE allows young people to develop physically, emotionally, intellectually and socially within an educational context that values and cares for them.

Our degree programme prepares you to teach pupils between 3 and 18 years old and offers an excellent route into physical education careers both in the UK and abroad. Over the course of the programme, you will learn about the primary and secondary curriculum in physical education, and complete placements in primary and secondary schools. After you graduate, you can register with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

Wherever you go on to work, our programme will leave you well-positioned to articulate, advocate and take action toward teaching for a better world.

How long it takes to complete this degree programme

This programme is studied over 4 years.

A key benefit to studying a 4-year degree programme is that you have the flexibility to study a range of subjects, outside your chosen degree programme, in Year 1 and Year 2.

This allows you the opportunity to study other courses that interest you or enhance your degree. By the end of Year 2, you can decide which of these subject areas you want to focus on in the honours years of your programme.

How long it takes to complete our degree programmes

Programme rankings

  • Top 6 universities in Europe for sports-related subjects in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025

Programme benefits

  • We have over 400 passionate students currently studying Physical Education with us, the highest number of undergraduate PE student teachers in the UK.
  • Our dedicated staff and student teams work to promote a strong sense of community and belonging in our Physical Education cohort.
  • We embrace the University’s vision, fostering an environment where every student thrives.
  • We actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds, cultivating a rich and varied teacher workforce.

There are so many things I love about the MA Physical Education course: my peers, the course camaraderie, the knowledgeable and helpful tutors and the invaluable placement experiences truly make the course what it is. This course not only develops you academically but also personally and professionally by providing you with the skills needed for your future teaching career.

Claire Moloney MA Physical Education alumna

Find your entry requirements

Use the dropdowns to find out your entry requirements.

  1. Select the country or region where you are studying or where you studied your qualification.
  2. Select the qualification you are studying or studied.
United Kingdom,

Tuition fees for MA (Hons) Physical Education

View the tuition fees for one academic year of MA (Hons) Physical Education.

Tuition fees for this programme

Additional costs

All successful applicants will be required to join Disclosure Scotland's Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme, with the University of Edinburgh as the Registered Body. 

This currently costs between £18 and £59.

Clothing costs

You will also need to buy several pieces of branded University clothing if your application is successful. You will wear these for all practical sessions as well as on teaching placement visits during the four-year programme.

The approximate one-off cost is £366.

Successful applicants will be required to order and pay for clothing during Induction Week.

Annual placement costs

In each year of the programme you must successfully complete a school teaching placement. You may be placed up to 90-minutes' bus travel time from your address.

Bus travel is free for students with a valid National Entitlement Card. You must cover your own costs if you choose to travel by car or train. Additionally, you must provide your own lunch whilst on placement.

Option course costs

You are expected to attend a number of professional learning courses throughout your time on the programme. 

Any compulsory courses, such as 'Child Protection and Wellbeing', are free and most of the optional courses are free too. However, there are a few courses delivered by outside organisations that lead to additional certificates, and some of these have a small fee. Where possible, our programme meets these costs, but occasionally you must fund this yourself if you choose to attend.

The cost can range from £10 to £30 per course.

A small number of courses have learning tasks that require you to design and present an academic poster. There are internal facilities to support the specialised printing of these posters.

The approximate cost is £30.

Accommodation and living costs

You need to cover your accommodation and living costs for the duration of your programme.

We estimate that a single student can potentially spend £1,023 to £2,043 each month on living costs, depending on your accommodation.

This estimate covers the costs of:

  • accommodation
  • food
  • utility bills
  • travel within Edinburgh
  • health and wellbeing costs

See a breakdown of living costs

Scholarships and funding

Funding information

You can find detailed information on financial support available, based on where you are living, in our funding section.

Funding

What you will study

In Year 1 your focus will be the primary school curriculum as the foundation for lifelong engagement in physical education. 

You will study:

  • physical education - curriculum and pedagogy
  • health and wellbeing
  • educational studies
  • sport science

You will also complete placements in a primary school.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 1 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

In Year 2 your focus will again be the early secondary school curriculum.

You will undertake an ongoing study of:

  • physical education - curriculum and pedagogy
  • health and wellbeing
  • educational studies
  • philosophical and sociological perspectives of physical education

You will complete placements in a secondary school.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 2 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

This year begins with an extended placement in a secondary school.

You will also engage in courses covering curriculum and pedagogy in educational studies and physical education. These create links between the nature of educational practice and issues related to national qualifications.

Drawing on the core courses you took in Years 1 and 2, you will select an option course to further inform your professional practice. Our courses cover areas including:

  • health and wellbeing
  • developing talent
  • philosophical and qualitative analysis of physical culture
Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 3 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

In Year 4 you will take a physical education course on curriculum and pedagogy. This will enable you to focus on the future direction of physical education and your ability to engage in its development. 

You will also take an educational studies course that involves a major independent study on an area of professional interest. 

You will also take another option course from an area such as:

  • health and wellbeing
  • school leadership and culture
  • skill learning in physical education

Lastly, you will complete a final extended block placement in a secondary school.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 4 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

Placements

You will have a series of professional experience and practice days throughout Years 1 and 2. These build towards block placements in schools at the end of each of those years. 

Your placement days and block placements will be in a:

  • primary teaching setting in Year 1
  • secondary school setting in Year 2

In Years 3 and 4 there are extended placement courses where you will work towards the Standard for Provisional Registration. You will draw on your university-based courses to inform your practice.

During your school-based placements, you will:

  • plan and teach lessons
  • self-assess your progress
  • get feedback and mentoring from qualified teachers, and support from your placement tutor

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Our teaching is connected with the real-world demands of contemporary physical education through partnerships with schools and external agencies in research hubs at Moray House.

The four principles of our degree are:

  • applied learning
  • vision
  • connection
  • community

You will build your knowledge, skills and vision of education in various ways, including:

  • placements in our partner schools (and others) that offer opportunities to apply theory to practice
  • learning underpinned by values of social justice, inclusion, sustainability and professional inquiry
  • opportunities to take courses from across the University to broaden and develop your learning and interests
  • connections with students in other years and on other programmes
  • our sense of community, including good links with schools, guest lectures, awards and a peer support network

We support you to become a confident, creative and reflective practitioner. 

We aim to produce graduates with a critical awareness of their own teacher identity, ready to work in 21st century education systems.

You will be taught through:

  • lectures
  • seminars
  • tutorials
  • practical workshops

All of our courses link policy, practice and theory and make use of LEARN, the University's online learning platform.

Professional portfolio

You are expected to create and regularly update a portfolio to demonstrate and reflect upon your learning experiences throughout the degree programme. This will help prepare you for your registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

Assessment

Our assessment practice is founded on research-informed principles and includes the Assessment for Learning theory. 

We provide ongoing feedback through formative assessment. We also use summative assessment methods, including:

  • assignments
  • portfolios
  • exams
  • oral and poster presentations (group, individual and digital)
  • debates

Our learning and assessment practices aim to promote authentic, sustainable learning and support you to develop professional competence informed by critical, academic thinking.

This is an example of a Year 1, Semester 1 timetable. 

The information here is not definitive as courses and timings are subject to change. Your timetable may look different.

Monday
  • Morning: PE Curriculum and Pedagogy, which runs all year on Mondays and Wednesdays. You will learn about teaching PE in the primary school.
    • Learn about the variety of ways to teach through different contexts (such as gymnastics and games) but, more importantly, learn about how children develop holistically.
    • This course comprises lectures (usually an hour in duration), seminars (usually an hour in duration), and practical sessions (usually two hours' duration).
    • In April and May you will attend a compulsory full-time teaching placement in the primary school.
  • Afternoon: Sports Science - Exercise Physiology practical labs. This course comprises lectures (2 hours' duration) and practical lab work (1 hour in duration).
Tuesday
  • Afternoon: Sports Science - Exercise Physiology lecture. This course comprises lectures (2 hours' duration) and practical lab work (1 hour in duration).
Wednesday
  • Morning: PE Curriculum and Pedagogy practical sessions
  • Afternoon: Student Sport - no classes across the university (except during placement and Professional Learning Weeks)
Thursday

School placement visit days. These take place in weeks 7, 8, 9 and 10. There are a further 4 days in Semester 2.

Friday
  • Morning: Health and Wellbeing - This course helps you to understand your own health and wellbeing in relation to transitioning from being a school student, to becoming a student teacher.
    • The course comprises a mixture of lectures (1 hour in duration), seminars (usually 2 hours' duration) and other workshops.
  • Afternoon: Sport Science - Skill Acquisition. This course comprises lectures (1 hour in duration) and seminars/practical workshops (2 hours' duration).
Week 6: Professional Learning Week

Normal timetable is replaced with a series of compulsory and optional professional courses, such as:

  • learning about dyslexia
  • Introduction to Orienteering
  • teaching abroad

This is a compulsory element of the programme, with an assessment at the end of it.

Mid-April to Mid-May: 4-week Primary School Teaching Placement

This is compulsory and you must achieve a pass to progress into Year 2.

Support for your studies

You will have access to a range of support services if you need them throughout your degree.

We will assign you to a student adviser, and this should be the first person to contact if you need help. They can guide you to other University service teams depending on what support you need.

Support for your studies

Our academic staff

You will join a dynamic, interdisciplinary team that leads cutting-edge research at our school.

Staff are engaged in world-leading physical education research projects, exploring diverse topics that are shaping the future of teaching and learning.

Where you will study

Study location

You will be based at Moray House School of Education and Sport within the Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences.

It is situated on our Holyrood campus, just a short walk from the University's Central Area campus.

Holyrood Park is nearby and some of our practical sessions take place with Arthur's Seat providing a wonderful backdrop.

Academic facilities

Moray House School of Education and Sport has a library and full student facilities.

We offer excellent academic and sports facilities, including:

  • sport science labs
  • gyms
  • sports halls
  • a dance studio
Sports pitches

The University's Peffermill complex occupies a 27-acre site, two and a half miles from the city centre. It boasts a 100-metre synthetic training track and provides high-quality pitches for a variety of sports, including:

  • 10 grass pitches
  • a 3G football/rugby pitch
  • two water-based artificial pitches for hockey
  • nine artificial grass, small-sided sports pitches

Facilities for sport-related teaching and research

Accreditation

The MA (Hons) Physical Education programme is accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), which allows UK students to register with the GTCS as provisionally qualified teachers.

General Teaching Council for Scotland

Career paths

UK students can register with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) as provisionally qualified teachers.

UK graduates are also eligible for the Teacher Induction Scheme. This offers a guaranteed one-year training post after successful completion of the programme as graduates work towards the Standard for Full Registration (SFR) with the GTCS.

Once teachers attain the SFR, they can seek employment in Scottish schools or apply for posts in other parts of the world.

Graduates are employed as teachers of physical education across the globe, and many in promoted posts.

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals.

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies.

With the Careers Service, you can:

  • access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
  • try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
  • get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
  • attend careers events and practice interviews
  • get information and advice to help you make informed decisions

Visit the Careers Service website

Further study

After you complete your programme, you may want to go onto further study at Edinburgh or a different university. You could progress to:

  • a masters degree
  • a postgraduate diploma or certificate
  • a PhD
  • a second undergraduate degree

Find out about options for further study

How to apply

You must submit a full application through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) before the relevant deadline.

Guidance on applying through UCAS

What you need to apply

As part of your application, you will need:

  • your academic qualifications
  • a personal statement
  • evidence of your English language skills (with relevant qualifications)
  • a reference

How we select

If you have met, or are predicted to meet, all our entry requirements by the relevant deadline, then your application will go into our selection process.

As part of this selection process, we will review all the information you submit in your UCAS application when we decide who to select for this degree programme.

How we select applicants

When to apply

  • 2027 entry UCAS deadline: 13 January 2027 (6:00pm GMT)

This is the deadline for all UK, EU and international applicants to non-medicine and veterinary medicine programmes.

To find out if any degree programmes have spaces after 13 January 2027, search the University of Edinburgh on the UCAS website.

Search degrees that are open on the UCAS website

Key application dates and deadlines

After you apply

After you have applied for your degree programme, we suggest you have a look at the following information to help you prepare for university:

Join the PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) scheme for a background check

If we give you an offer, you will need to join Disclosure Scotland's Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme before you start this degree programme.

We will send you information on how to join the PVG scheme.

PVG scheme information on the Scottish Government website

If you live outside the UK

If you live outside the UK, or have spent more than one year living outside the UK, then you will need to provide equivalent verification from the relevant national authority.

If you have a criminal conviction

If you state you have a criminal conviction, we will not ask for any more details until we consider your application and decide you are eligible for an offer.

Applying as an international student

As an international student, you apply for this degree programme through UCAS.  

Find out more about applying through UCAS  

Visas and immigration 

If you do not have the right to live in the UK, you will need to apply for and secure a Student visa before the start date of your degree programme.  

Our Student Immigration Service can help you with the Student visa application process. 

Applying for a visa  

Agents

An education agent is someone who can help you with the application process as an international student. 

We work with education agents around the world and have a list of local offices you can contact.  

Find contact details for an education agent

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of University accommodation for all new, single undergraduate students from outside Edinburgh. To be eligible, you need to meet all criteria and apply for accommodation by 16 August in the year of your entry to the University.

University accommodation website

Accommodation guarantee criteria

If you prefer to live elsewhere, we can offer you advice on finding accommodation in Edinburgh.

Accommodation information from the Edinburgh University Students' Association Advice Place

Societies and clubs

Our societies and sports clubs will help you develop your interests, meet like-minded people, find a new hobby or simply socialise.

Societies

Sports clubs

The city of Edinburgh

Scotland's inspiring capital will form the background to your studies — a city with an irresistible blend of history, natural beauty and modern city life.

Find out more about living in Edinburgh

Health and wellbeing support

You will have access to free health and wellbeing services throughout your time at university if you need them.

The support services we offer include:

  • a student counselling service
  • a health centre (doctor's surgery)
  • support if you're living in University accommodation
  • dedicated help and support if you have a disability or need adjustment

Health and wellbeing support services

Contact us

Contact us through our enquiry team if you have any questions about this programme.

Open days, events and visits

Find out when our next open days will be taking place

Open days, events and visits

Chat to our students on Unibuddy

Related degree programmes

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It is one of many sources of information which will enable you to make an informed decision on what and where to study.

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Source data of all entry requirements for this programme