Does the school system work and who does it work for? Why is it the way it is and how might it be better? Share your ideas and participate in debates on education.

This course aims to be a lively, positive and confidence-building experience for anyone over 18 returning to study. We particularly welcome those who didn’t much enjoy their own schooling at the time.

We'll draw on your experiences, along with journalism, social media, academic research, and a wide range of other sources to set the agenda for our debate and discussion. There will also be opportunities to develop your study skills – including note-taking, essay writing and taking part in discussion.

This course is for anyone interested in making sense of the cluttered, complex education system in England today and considering how things could be different. It will be a thought-provoking course, raising questions about a wide range of topics - from middle-class advantage and schools covertly selecting or side-lining pupils; through student disengagement, teacher stereotyping and educational inequalities; to considering what the purpose of education is and what it could be. You will be introduced to some key educational theories and philosophies to help to make sense of all this.

The course will draw on participants' and tutors' experiences, blogs and the media, research projects and other sources, to inform our debate and discussions in class. There will also be opportunities to develop your study skills – including note-taking, forming a reasoned argument, participating in discussion and essay-writing skills.

This course has been suspended but will be back running in the 2021/22 academic year.

The Changing Education application pack will be available nearer the time. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please get in touch with us: changing-education@bristol.ac.uk.

There may be various routes into further study beyond this course and we will offer advice and support on the options. Two options at Bristol University may be especially relevant:

• If you feel confident about starting a degree straight away, you can apply for an undergraduate degree in School of Education, in Education Studies or Psychology in Education. Please note that some degree programmes may require GCSE grades in relevant subject/s e.g. Maths.
• If you feel like you need a bit more preparation before starting an undergraduate degree, you can apply for the Foundation Year in Arts and Humanities, a way into university for people without formal qualifications. The University is currently exploring options to create routes into degrees in Social Sciences and Law from this programme from 2019. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/courses/foundation/

The course tutor and course director will advise you on your options, and support your application to any of these programmes. You can find out more about mature students at Bristol University here.

The course will encourage you to develop skills in:

• Reading a range of sources. We’ll be looking at lots of different types of sources which help shed light on educational issues.
• Discussion: There will be an emphasis on class discussion and debate as well as on critical analysis of the sources. This is a great way to improve confidence and to start thinking about what you are reading. This leads towards…
• Essay writing: we will focus on extended writing, moving towards structuring essays: so don’t panic if you haven’t written one before or if you are out of practice!

The enrolment fee for this course is £350. We have a number of bursaries available to help students who may be unable to pay the course fee in full. If you apply for a bursary, you will be asked to complete a short form which will be assessed by the Student Funding Office.