Learning in Communities MA (Hons)

Level: Undergraduate

Subject: Education

Year of entry: 2026

Key facts

UCAS Code

X321

Award

MA (Hons)

Duration of study

3 years, 4 years

Delivery

Full-time

Study location

Multiple campuses

Start date

September 2026

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

Do you want to work alongside young people and adults in communities? 

Do you have a desire to help communities reach their full potential and promote social justice? 

This programme offers an excellent route into the empowering profession of Community Learning and Development (CLD). 

Our programme produces practitioners who are:

  • professionally competent
  • ethically informed
  • critical and reflective

Our graduates go on to work in CLD roles in several areas, including:

  • community-based adult learning
  • youth work
  • criminal justice
  • community capacity building
  • community development

Our approach

When studying with us, you will:

  • gain a well-rounded grounding in education and the social sciences
  • learn different educational concepts and approaches in your practice
  • get professional practice experience through work-based learning placements
  • develop the skills to help people build vibrant communities and work towards social justice
  • build your understanding of the relationship between theory, policy and practice

How long it takes to complete this degree programme

As standard, students will enter the four-year degree programme, graduating with an MA (Hons) degree. However, there is an option for students to exit at the end of Year 3 with a BA degree.

This flexible exit route is designed to:

  • enhance the student experience
  • facilitate the needs of individual students and their particular career and academic aspirations

Programme benefits

  • Moray House School of Education and Sport has been contributing to the field of education for almost 200 years.
  • The school has included community learning and development since 1961. Our degree builds on this extensive expertise.
  • We have strong links with more than 30 Community Education providers.
  • We have tailored our programme specifically to the needs of those who want to enter this sector of education.
  • Our staff have extensive knowledge and experience in fieldwork and research in a range of CLD settings.
  • As a professionally approved degree, our degree will prepare you well for employment.

Find your entry requirements

Use the dropdowns to find out your entry requirements.

  1. Select the country 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) Learning in Communities

View the tuition fees for one academic year of MA (Hons) Learning in Communities.

Tuition fees for this programme

Additional costs

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

You must pay the cost of joining the scheme, which is currently between £18 and £59.

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 a maximum of £920 to £2,257 on living costs each month, 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

Year 1 has an important formative and foundational function, building on your existing experience. 

The programme includes a broad introduction to theory and practice in Community Learning and Development (CLD). This will help you to extend your thinking and prepare for critical reflection on policy and practice. 

You will:

  • learn about frameworks for locating practice in the wider policy context, and start to consider some of the implications
  • prepare for the task of developing disciplined and systematic approaches to practice
  • discover a range of teaching and learning strategies in CLD settings
  • complete your first supervised professional practice placement

Your placement this year will focus on developing a professional identity and studying the CLD agency in the context of the community.

Find Year 1 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

In Year 2, you will build on previous learning and develop a critical understanding and awareness of core theoretical concepts and principles. 

You will develop your existing knowledge and skills in relation to the four learning strands of the curriculum. 

You will:

  • study the principles and practice of working with people and groups
  • explore the historical development of, and debates relating to, the distinct areas of practice
  • research the structure, culture, operation and resourcing of community-based agencies
  • have the opportunity to study option courses from subjects in the wider University
  • complete a second professional practice placement

Your placement this year further builds and develops your knowledge of the relationship between theory and practice.

Find Year 2 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

In Year 3, you will develop a critical understanding of the defining features and scope of the professional sector. This will help you develop independence as a practitioner. 

You will:

  • learn to draw on a range of theoretical sources to make competent, confident and defensible judgements in practice
  • deepen your understanding of the domains of practice through critical analysis of contemporary issues
  • apply your knowledge, skills and understanding of practice through routine methods of enquiry and research
  • learn how to design, plan and implement programmes of education and action in communities

Your final professional practice placement offers the opportunity to:

  • complete your professional portfolio of evidence
  • present a professional viva (oral exam) as evidence of your overall learning
Three-year degree option

After completing Year 3, you will have the option to exit with a BA degree and a professional Community Learning and Development (CLD) qualification.

Find Year 3 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Year 4 draws many strands of study together and focuses on your honours research project. This is an opportunity for you to focus on a particular area of interest that is relevant to the field of CLD. 

You can present your project in many ways, including:

  • a dissertation
  • a fully developed research proposal
  • a written submission in the form of an academic journal article
  • a systematic literature review
How you will study

In Year 4, you will:

  • study more independently and develop your research project
  • share your research, and related research, with the student group
  • benefit from research workshops where you can share and discuss practical approaches and draw on academic knowledge and advice

You will also take our advanced policy analysis course, which encourages you to discuss specific policy and policy discourses. 

This will engage you in theoretical debates about:

  • community
  • equality
  • social justice
  • citizenship
  • democracy

You will consider how these factors both open up and close off the possibilities for professional action.

Find Year 4 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Placements

You will complete three significant practice-based learning placements during the programme. These take place in Years 1, 2 and 3, normally in Semester 2 each year. 

You will:

  • need to complete 370 placement hours
  • normally attend your placement on a part-time basis (three days per week for 17 weeks)
Finding a placement

In the first few days of term, there is a Placement Open Day where you will have the opportunity to talk to multiple providers to find a good fit for your placement.

Your programme tutor will also help you to identify a placement. 

As far as we can, we will account for personal factors including your:

  • family commitments
  • learning and development needs
  • professional interests
  • career aspirations

On placement, you will work closely alongside, and be supported by, a placement supervisor. 

Our supervisors are professionally qualified and experienced practitioners. They have also completed our placement supervisor training.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Teaching staff use a range of teaching and learning approaches, including:

  • lectures
  • tutorials
  • workshops and seminars
  • individual and peer group self-directed learning
  • participative enquiry and action learning
  • problem-based learning activities
  • simulations (for example, funding applications or needs assessments)
  • online and blended learning
  • online blogs and discussion boards
  • supervised professional practice placements

Your learning and teaching will be supported and enhanced by regular one-to-one meetings with student advisers and placement supervisors.

Assessment

We will assess you with a range of methods, including:

  • oral presentations
  • your online professional portfolio in Years 1, 2 and 3
  • essays and other written tasks
  • case study analysis
  • group projects
  • practical assessments linked to your professional practice placement
  • dissertation/professional research project in Year 4

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

Where you will study

Study location

Most of your teaching will take place at Moray House School of Education and Sport. The school is part of the Holyrood Campus within the University's Central Area.

Academic facilities

You will have access to the University's libraries and computing facilities.

Virtual tour

You can take a closer look at Moray House School of Education and Sport and explore our facilities and campus on the University's Virtual Visit site.

Take a virtual tour of Moray House School of Education and Sport

Accreditation

This programme can lead to two qualifications:

  • BA in Learning in Communities, if you leave after Year 3
  • MA (Hons) degree in Learning in Communities, if you leave after Year 4

BA degree

The three-year BA degree is approved by the Community Learning and Development Standards Council for Scotland (CLDSCS) and equivalent bodies in the rest of the UK under the UK-wide Joint Education and Training Standards.

CLDSC is the only professional body specifically for people working in the CLD field.

MA degree

The MA (Hons) qualification includes the approved BA degree. This means all MA graduates will be professionally qualified and eligible to register with the CLDSCS.

Career paths

Our graduates can work in a wide range of settings in the UK and beyond. 

Local authorities across the UK recruit CLD graduates for various roles in their community learning services, youth services and related departments. 

Local, national and international voluntary sector organisations also employ CLD practitioners in a range of roles. 

Typically, our graduates will go on to work with young people, adults and communities in settings such as:

  • youth work in communities, schools or criminal justice
  • community development
  • community capacity building
  • community engagement and inclusion
  • community health and housing
  • family learning
  • adult literacy and lifelong learning
  • citizenship and democracy 

Wherever they work, our graduates bring a clear professional identity and a practice grounded in the theory and practice of community-based informal education.

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

  • 2026 entry UCAS deadline: 14 January 2026 (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 14 January 2026, 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

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