School of Education and Social Care MPhil, PhD

Research group overview

The School’s activities are consistently underpinned by a dual concern for inclusion and excellence, yet are also diverse in terms of epistemological, theoretical and empirical foci. Our staff and PhD students engage with a range of topics related to identities and inequalities in education, including gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and caring responsibilities, education for sustainability (including democracy, rights and participation), digital technology in education, arts in schools, and teachers' careers and identities.

The overarching theme of research – including PhD research – undertaken in the social care field is social inclusion and marginalised communities. Our research has a strong multidisciplinary focus, with an emphasis on links to practice and engaging the voice of service users. Communities can be considered marginalised in many different ways. People might belong to groups who suffer disadvantage and discrimination, such as gypsies, Roma and travellers or refugees and asylum seekers. They can also find themselves marginalised by virtue of their experiences within society, such as bullying, loneliness or homelessness. Marginalisation can also result from policies which promote exclusion. Research within this priority area therefore captures studies which explore marginalisation at macro, meso and micro levels of society. Currently, staff research under this umbrella theme has three major clusters: migration and mobility, transitions and social support. These clusters are supported by research groups that specialise in complementary and inclusive methodologies. We are also supporting emerging enquiry into disadvantage in the professions we represent: in education training and employment – specifically among BAME, LGBT+ and people with long-term health conditions.

Completion times
MPhil: full-time 1-3 years, part-time 2-4 years.

PhD via progression from MPhil, including that period: full-time 2.5-5 years, part-time 3.5-6 years.

PhD: full-time 2-4 years, part-time 3-6 years.

For further guidance on the duration of research degrees please refer to the Research Degrees Regulations.