Interested in studying a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University?
You’ve come to the right place! In this article we’ll cover all you need to know about this degree’s majors, culture, assessments, expected workload and more.
Let’s get started!
What is a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University?
Core Units and Majors
How to Get into a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University
What’s the Teaching Format?
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
What is a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University?
A Bachelor of Education at Macquarie is a degree that focuses on the study of teaching and learning, preparing you for a career in the education industry as a teacher or policy-maker. What you absorb from studying this degree will help you become a better communicator and allow you to impart knowledge onto your future students.
Macquarie offers two separate Education degrees for primary and secondary school teaching; Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Bachelor of Education (Secondary).
If you choose the Primary degree, as the name implies, you will be prepped to become a primary school (K-6) teacher. On the other hand, the Secondary degree prepares you to become a high-school (year 7-12) teacher of a specific subject.
A Bachelor of Education (Secondary) must be studied with either a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Commerce as a double degree. Each of these degrees offer a range of different majors that will determine the school subject(s) you will teach!
Similarly, a Bachelor of Education (Primary) must be studied together with an Arts or Psychology degree.
Thinking of attending Macquarie University? Explore the campus, talk to current students, and get advice on your degree choice by attending an Open Day! Use our Comprehensive List of Open Day Dates for Universities to plan ahead!
Who Should Study a Bachelor of Education?
An Education degree sets you on the path to become a teacher, so if you can see yourself guiding and supporting children in their learning then this degree would likely be suited for you. As well as that, it’s well suited for people that have a love of learning and a keen interest in inspiring this same joy in others!
Career Paths
A Bachelor of Education sets you up for a career as a teacher and also offers opportunities to work in the industry as an:
- Education officer
- Education policy planner
- Educational advisor to the government or other agencies
Check out other careers you can end up in with a Bachelor of Education here!
Core Units and Majors
What Majors can I study?
The majors associated with a Bachelor of Education is determined by the degree you choose to study alongside it. Chosen majors will certify you for specific subjects you can teach!
Some popular majors for each degree include:
| Degree | Majors |
|---|---|
| Arts | - English - Geography - Modern History - A language (Chinese, Croatian, French, Japanese, Russian and more) |
| Science | - Mathematics - Physics - Chemistry and Biology - Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| Commerce | - Accounting - Economics - Finance |
You can find more information on majors by checking out the handbook and searching for the particular degree that piques your interest!
What are the Core Units?
Regardless of the degree or major you choose, a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University will have a number of core units that all students have to complete:
- Exploring Australian Education: Social and Historical Contexts
- Learning and Development: An Introduction for Educators
- Practice of Teaching: Inclusive Education
- Education: The Learner
- Practice of Teaching: Classroom Management and Assessment in the Secondary School
- Introduction to the Secondary Curriculum
- Indigenous Education
- Practice of Teaching: ICT in the Secondary School
- Practice of Teaching: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Secondary Classrooms
- Adolescent Development and Classroom Practice
- Using and Interpreting Educational Data
What are the professional experience placements like?
Professional experience placements begin from the second year, and the university organises a placement for you in a school. You’ll be assigned a supervising teacher in your teaching subject to observe and guide your teaching in a classroom context.
How to Get into a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University
The ATAR cut off for a Bachelor of Education, together with either an Arts or Science degree, is an ATAR of 75.
However, a higher ATAR of 80 is required to study Bachelor of Education (Secondary) with Commerce or Bachelor of Education (Primary) with Psychology.
You can find alternative admission pathways for Macquarie University here!
Are there any prerequisites?
Entry into a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie involves completing a non-academic teaching questionnaire as part of your UAC application. This consists of questions about your motivations and suitability for teaching.
To help you prepare, here are some questions from the UAC website to help frame your response:
- Tell us what has inspired you to become a teacher and tell us why you think teaching is a good career choice for you.
Describe who and what has inspired you to become a teacher and describe the types of skills and abilities you will bring to teaching. - Describe one or two leadership, community and/or learning and development activities that you have engaged in.
Describe how these leadership, community and/or learning and development activities demonstrate your conscientiousness and coping strategies when you are faced with challenges. - Describe how you manage your time when you are both planning and coordinating activities in your personal schedule.
Provide examples of how you have put both your planning and coordinating skills to use. - Tell us about one or two times where you have utilised your problem-solving skills to achieve an outcome.
Explain what you learned, regardless of whether the outcome you achieved was positive or undesirable.
While entry into a teaching program usually needs a prerequisite of three Band 5 HSC results, a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie is structured in a way that removes that requirement. So entry into Education at Macquarie is irrespective of the number of Band 5 HSC results you receive.
You can find further details about entry requirements for teaching programs here.
What scholarships are available?
Macquarie University offers a range of scholarships for undergraduate students that are focused on equity and social inclusion, as well as academic excellence and leadership.
You can find more information here!
What’s the Teaching Format?
A Bachelor of Education is taught through lectures and tutorials split into two semesters per year. The final year will consist of workshops designed to support the transition from university into teaching.
Generally, education courses at Macquarie University consist of lectures (2 hours) paired with a tutorial (1 hour) to consolidate the lecture content from that week.
Lectures can consist upwards of 100 people, where the lecturer will explain and elaborate on a lot of the theories essential for those wanting to take on teaching as a degree. There isn’t as much room for class discussion due to how many students there are, but this is where tutorials come in handy.
The environment of a tutorial is more like a high-school classroom with about 30 students attending. This means that tutorials are a lot more interactive and discussion heavy!
Tutes typically cover the content discussed in the lecture, but they can get quite hands-on. For instance, in some units you’ll have the opportunity to teach the class or run an activity as if you are the teacher, and your peers are your students!
How many hours do you go to uni?
Contact hours will vary depending on the degree you take alongside a Bachelor of Education. For example, pairing it with an Arts degree will usually mean 2-3 days on campus whilst a Science degree generally requires 4-5 days.
However, classes that lack contact hours usually make that up in assigned readings or essential independent learning at home!
What are the assessments like?
Again, assessments will vary depending on each subject but will generally be a mix of exams, assignments, essays and presentations that focus on the theory learnt in class.
In general, exams for education subjects are not very intense and will often assess you on content that you have consolidated throughout the semester.
What are the skills that you develop?
The skills you learn from a Bachelor of Education are skills that are essential both in life and as a teacher!
One of the most important skills you will learn in this degree is communication, which will be cultivated by a range of verbal and written assessments and practical workshops within this degree. You will also develop your analysis and critical thinking through assessing relevant research in response to assessment tasks.
Your creativity will also be challenged and developed as you approach concepts at different angles in order to create lesson plans to teach a particular subject.
This degree also further develop your interpersonal and management skills through professional experience placements, where you will be placed in a school to gain hands-on experience of managing a classroom and teaching students.
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
University life is not all about studying and, often, university culture plays a big part in the process of choosing your degree and university!
Culture
Macquarie University is known for its beautiful campus, knowledgeable staff and flexible learning.
The first two years of a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie will be with the same cohort of education students, meaning that you will see many familiar faces throughout the years as you take the same units. Seeing the same people often will help you meet lots of people who share your passion to teach!
Overall, the faculty is relatively well-organised and the staff are more supportive as you progress to third and fourth year where units are smaller and specific to your teaching subject. Macquarie also offers peer mentor programs for all students to help you navigate the transition to university and connect to other students in the mentoring program!
Societies
While societies (also known as student groups) aren’t a huge part of the culture at Macquarie, there are still a number of them that will help you find like-minded people! You also have the option of creating your very own society if you don’t find one that fits.
Macquarie University has its own Education society that aims to support students by running events and providing opportunities for professional, academic and social growth!
Events range from help with unit specific assignments, professional networking events and career-oriented information workshops. These events can also be a great way to meet new people and make the most of the ‘uni life’ that you always hear about!
You can check out the full list of Macquarie University societies here!
Millicent Tai hopes to one day become a full-time teacher and is currently studying a Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science at UNSW. She enjoys tutoring students at Art of Smart in English and Maths and has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. In her spare time, you can find her avidly reading Christian biographies or fishing in Animal Crossing.
