About This Course
Explore how educational evidence is generated, accessed, and applied across contexts. This module equips professionals to critically engage with diverse forms of evidence, including international research, to inform practice, identity, and collaboration. Assessment includes a critical essay examining evidence use in shaping effective, ethical, and reflective professional practice.
Who is this course suitable for?
Practitioners currently working within the education sector. This may include, but is not restricted to:
- Senior leaders
- Teachers
- Teaching assistants
- ALNCos
- Practitioners working in the local authority
- School improvement partners
- Estyn staff
Why study this course
By the end of the module students should be able to:
- Evaluate the different ways in which evidence is presented and published.
- Analyse and synthesise relevant empirical evidence, including international literature and policy documents.
- Examine how different forms of evidence inform professional behaviours and practices.
- Analyse the different ways in which evidence is generated, accessed, and explored within different educational settings and contexts.
- Examine and interpret international evidence in meaningfully and ethical ways.
- Critically evaluate ways in which the use of evidence can inform professional identity and collaborative relationships.
- Critically appraise how evidence can both inform and change professional practice.
How long does this course take to complete?
This short course runs over eleven weeks. Students will be expected to work through self-guided workbooks and attend two 1-hour synchronous ‘meet the tutor’ sessions.
Information about any assessments
The assignment for this module is a 4,000 word essay which offers a critical exploration and examination of the use of evidence to inform effective professional practice.
Course Content
What will you study on this course?
Evidence-based practice is an introductory module for practitioners without a recent PGCE. This module encourages students to critically evaluate and apply a range of evidence sources. This aims to support professional growth, influence collaborative practice, and sustain meaningful change.
Further information
All online workbooks are available bilingually. Where possible, online synchronous sessions will be offered in both Welsh and English. However, please note that if there are insufficient Welsh-speaking participants to enable meaningful discussion, you may be invited to join an English-medium session.
Course Cost
The cost of this course is £975.00
Entry Requirements
Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree in any subject. They must also hold a current role within the education sector to complete reflective activities in the workbooks and assignments.
Level of English language skills
Fluent
Level of Welsh language skills
Not required if you are completing the course via the English Medium.
Application
How to Apply
Please make sure you read and follow the step-by-step application guide as this will specify which sections of the application form are compulsory for the type of course you want to apply for and save you time.
Please prepare the following information (in a Word document):
- Current employment details;
- Years of experience, and employment history (where relevant)
- Name of staff member and organisation that have approved your funding for this module.
This will speed up the process of completing the application form.
To apply for this course, you need to create an account in our APPLICANT PORTAL
You will need access to the email address you specify while creating your account to confirm it.
After creating an account, you will see a homepage with several tabs:
- Personal
- Programme
- Info
- Contact
- Education
- Employment
- Language
- Finance
You need to complete all sections before submitting your application.
When a section is complete, a ‘tick’ symbol will appear below it.
- Click on ‘Non-graduating applications / Stand alone Modules’, then select ‘Non-graduating Undergraduate’.
- In the next section, select Non-Graduating Taught Modules in Education Click Save and Continue.
- On the next page, the default for the first question is Full Time. You need to change this to ‘Part time’:
- You now need to input the module code. Evidence-informed practice: the code is XME-4306; XMC-4306 (depending on language medium). This section must be completed for your application to be processed.
- You also need to state the start date. Please make your selection, then click ‘Save and Continue’.
- IMPORTANT: You do not need to write a personal statement to apply for this course. Instead, please upload the document including employment, experience and education information that you have created prior to starting the application that contains the name of your current employer, the number of years of experience you have, and your highest qualification to date. Click Save and continue.
You only need to enter the details of your highest qualification to date, e.g. if you have a postgraduate qualification, please only only include this.
You will be asked for evidence of the qualification. Please either upload a copy of your qualification if it's easily accessible, or upload the Word document again (that you prepared earlier).
Please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘I have no employment history’ (as you have already provided this in your Word document).
If you are funded, please answer the questions as follows:
- How will you finance your studies? Sponsored
- Exact name of funding authority:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Give details of the amount of the award? Fully funded.
- Sponsorship will cover: Tuition Fees
- Have you been awarded this funding? Please select ‘yes’ * Note that you will be required to upload evidence of the funding. If you wish to confirm ‘yes’ to this question, but do not have any written confirmation to upload, you can upload your Word document here again.
If you are self-funding, please provide all details as appropriate.