Keele University - Study online

100% online MA Early Childhood Education

Apply by: 19 August 2025
To begin: 2 September 2025
    • 180 credits
    • Complete in as little as 14 months
Give children the best start in life with the Keele difference – a 100% online MA from a university ranked in the top 10 in England for Education

This is Keele:

  • 100% online MA – 14 months full-time or 2 years part-time
  • Top 10 in England for Education*
  • Top 300 in the World for Education**
  • Britain's Best University, as ranked by students***
  • 80% of research 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent'****
  • £7,440 total fees with option to pay per module
  • Keele alumni discount available
*Complete University Guide, 2021
**Times Higher Education World Rankings, 2023
***No. 1 in the UK, Student Crowd University Awards, 2022
****Research Excellence Framework, 2021

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An online Master’s degree designed to equip educators with solid foundations, enabling young children to thrive

Keele’s 100% online MA Early Childhood Education is designed to prepare educators for professional practice in early years settings. Whether you’re a child psychologist, school counsellor, child therapist or support worker, gain the skills to enhance your career and help take it to the next level.

This programme is ideal if you are seeking to progress as an educator working with young children. Our education graduates have secured roles in a broad range of sectors and settings, including education, politics, local authorities, policy think tanks, business, national and international NGOs, the Civil Service, and the creative industries.

Flexible online study for practitioners seeking to improve the educational and life outcomes of children

This modular, part-time Master’s degree is ideal for professionals with busy lives and demanding schedules. We aim to remove barriers to learning, such as time, location and cost, so your studies will fit in with your existing commitments from the very beginning.

Access course content at times that suit you and establish your own study schedule around existing family or work commitments. Our flexible online approach allows you to further your career without taking a career break, making space for professional development but not at the expense of other responsibilities.

Choose from six start dates per year, so you can start your studies at a point that suits you for maximum freedom and flexibility.

There are no geographical barriers to studying our 100% online MA Early Childhood Education programme – and students join us from across the UK and the rest of the world. This means you can meaningfully engage in your online Master’s wherever you’re based, and whatever your commitments.

While you’ll never need to attend an on-campus session or face-to-face meeting, our remote learning model means you will still experience high quality teaching and learning. Your studies will be enriched by regular interaction and collaboration with tutors and peers via our online learning environment, where you will engage in group activities and discussions, meet learners from different backgrounds and experiences, and make valuable connections.

Knowledge and skills taught include:

  • How children learn, play and develop
  • Early years education, policy and practice
  • An interconnected view of education, employment and professional identity
  • Issues in global education
  • Reflective practice
  • Research design
  • Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
  • Preparing and developing a dissertation

An outstanding learning experience at a highly ranked university

Develop as a transformational early years practitioner at a leading university for education. Keele University is ranked in the Top 10 Universities in England for Education, according to the Complete University Guide 2021, and as a Global Top 300 institution for Education (Times Higher Education World Rankings 2023).

Your early childhood studies will be enhanced by our research-rich culture and environment. The latest Research Excellence Framework rated 80% of our research as either ‘world leading’ or ‘of international importance’, and your course content will be informed by cutting-edge developments and thinking across the sector.

You will learn from Keele experts who are pushing boundaries and developing solutions to global issues. With vast experience in early childhood education, they’ll support you to grow as an educator, ensuring your learning contains the key theoretical and practical
understandings to help you succeed in education roles.

We’re passionate about delivering the best possible learning experiences for our students. You’ll be supported to thrive in a university ranked 1st in England for overall course satisfaction in the Guardian University rankings 2019.

Give your online, flexible Master’s the Keele difference at a university ranked in the top 10 in England for Education. Apply now

Top 10

in England for Education

(Complete University Guide 2021) Detail Badge

Top 300

in the world for Education

(Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023) Detail Badge

Top 10

for Student Experience

(Times Good University Guide, 2020) Detail Badge

Award

Britain's best university, as ranked by students

(StudentCrowd University Awards, 2022) Detail Badge