The School of Education, located in the John Goodsell Building, was established in 1960. It specialises in research and teacher education at the preservice and inservice levels, with a particular focus on secondary and higher education contexts. Its programs include a concurrent preservice undergraduate BEd which can be combined with a range of various undergraduate degrees including Arts, Social Sciences, Science, Music, and Economics. It also has two postgraduate preservice secondary teacher education programs: the Graduate Diploma in Education and an innovative Master of Teaching; as well as various Postgraduate Certificate and Masters-level programs (including specialisations in Special Education, Applied Linguistics, Gifted Education, Higher Education and Education Leadership) and research higher degree programs. The School has more than 1400 students, many of whom are leading teachers and educational professionals in schools, and adult and community organisations undertaking postgraduate studies. It also maintains close ties with a range of leading schools within the state of New South Wales, and is a preferred provider of professional development and training for the NSW Institute of Teachers.

The staff are drawn from all corners of the globe and are leading practitioners in their respective fields, at the forefront of educational research in Australia and internationally. In particular, the School is renowned for its publications and expertise in a range of specific areas, including cognitive processes and instructional design, technology-enabled learning and teaching, language and literacy education (including TESOL), gifted education, special education, higher education, educational leadership, assessment and evaluation, and policy and politics in education. It hosts the Gifted Education Research, Resources and Information Centre (GERRIC) and the Office of Educational Leadership as well as a newly established Special Education Unit. The School was rated 4 (above international level) for its research output in specialist studies in Education (ERA 2010), placing it in the top four universities in Australia, and equal first in NSW. The School has the world’s 3rd highest number of citations in the area of instructional design and has three staff among the world’s top 20 educational psychologists. The school also has the highest concentration of TESOL researchers in education in Australia. The School prides itself on its ability to link theory and practice, its high quality learning and teaching, it’s very strong levels of community engagement, its progressive and dynamic research agenda and its friendly, informal and supportive atmosphere.