Will the Minister provide an update on the National Masters in Education, including the number of education professionals who have taken the qualification?
The National MA Education (Wales) was developed collaboratively by seven Welsh higher education institutions and commenced in September 2021.
It is aimed at education professionals in years three to six of teaching and is an intrinsic element of the early career support package. The course is a two or three-year part-time programme depending on the number of credits of prior learning each student has. There is no full-time option.
Two new programme pathways have been developed: Additional Learning Needs and Leadership. These will be available for new students from September 2022 and for existing students to transfer onto from January 2022.
Following the successful validation of the Additional Learning Needs and Leadership pathways, the partnership is currently exploring and planning for the potential development of further pathways and a level eight qualification.
There are currently 248 students enrolled on the National MA Education (Wales), although 31 students have deferred their learning.
Applications for the programme starting in September 2022 have recently opened and will close on 23 September. Current numbers are modest however this is to be expected for this type of programme at this time in the recruitment cycle with more applications expected in the next three months.