Intercollegiate Masters Degree in Bilingual Education and Content and Language Integrated Learning
Jaén, Spain
Master degree
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
The Intercollegiate Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a fully online programme that trains teachers to implement bilingual education at all levels of education.
The programme aims to improve students’ linguistic abilities by focusing on practical English for use in the bilingual classroom. Students can create customised pathways according to their level and the subjects they teach with the aim of achieving a B2 or C1 level in general English and familiarising themselves with the specific English they will need to deliver bilingual teaching in Natural Sciences, Biology and Geology; Social Sciences, Geography and History; Mathematics, Physics and Technology; Physical Education, Music and Art; or Infant and Primary Education. This practical part of the degree will be supplemented with key methodological aspects allowing participants to implement student-centred teaching methods, use new technologies in the bilingual classroom, develop CLIL materials, familiarise themselves with evaluation techniques in the bilingual classroom, and coordinate or organise CLIL programmes.
The programme differs from existing master’s degrees in the same area in many ways, making it a pioneer in its field
- It is the first fully online intercollegiate master’s programme (with the collaboration of two Andalusian public universities) on bilingual education.
- It focuses specifically on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), the concrete model of bilingual teaching used in Europe, Spain and Andalusia (and increasingly in Latin America and Asia), guaranteeing its relevance and usefulness in the current educational context.
- It is the first master’s programme to feature a structure and content based on the latest research findings on teacher training needs in bilingual teaching in Spain and Andalusia, including three research projects commissioned by the Ministry of Education and the Andalusian Regional Government (with a sample size of almost 5,000 respondents).
- The programme is also the first to apply the macro-framework for bilingual teacher training from the European Centre for Modern Languages and the main national and international taxonomies of competencies required by new teachers in bilingual settings at the micro-level (Spain and Andalusia).
- Unlike other master’s courses, the programme is aimed at teachers involved in bilingual teaching at all levels of education, making its content eminently practical and grounded in reality. The overarching aim is to equip teachers with specific, practical skills to implement bilingual programmes, rather than focusing solely on theoretical aspects of bilingual education.
- The course is taught by a team of lecturers from Andalusian and European universities who are prominent in the field of bilingual education (including Dr. David Marsh, who coined the term CLIL in 1996).
- Finally, it will be the first master’s programme to collaborate with a prestigious international publishing company that produces materials for bilingual teaching nationwide: Oxford University Press. The publishing company will supply native English teaching staff specialising in bilingual education, as well as materials for teaching the main subject areas in the target language.
Applicant profile
To take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Intercollegiate Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education and CLIL, applicants should hold a university degree and seek to acquire specialised training in bilingual teaching/CLIL in any discipline or subject taught at the different levels of education. The programme is aimed at in-service teachers or recent graduates who intend to apply to vacancies across the different European bilingual education networks. Whereas existing master’s programmes in this area tend to demand a B2 or C1 level, the Intercollegiate Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education and CLIL is more realistic about the current level in these groups and requires applicants to accredit a B1. It aims to improve students’ level through B2 and C1 language modules and specific English lessons for different subject areas.
Type of course:
- Required - 36 Credits
- Elective - 12 Credits
- Master's Thesis - 12 Credits
- Total Credits - 60 Credits
Distribution of the Curriculum in ECTS credits by subject type
| Module | ECTS Credits | Subjects and ECTS Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLIL THEORY | 12 |
|
| CLIL PRACTICE | 24 |
|
| CLIL LANGUAGE | 12 (de un total de 24) | 4 ASIGNATURAS A ELEGIR ENTRE:
|
| TFM / MA DISSERTATION | 12 |
|
The Intercollegiate Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education and Content and Language Integrated Learning aims to equip students to:
- Be aware of the characteristics, similarities and differences between immersion, bilingual education and CLIL.
- Use English at a B2 or C1 level across the four skills areas and be familiar with the sublanguages present in their discipline (Natural Sciences, Biology and Geology; Social Sciences, Geography and History; Mathematics, Physics and Technology; Physical Education, Music and Art; or Infant and Primary Education).
- Be familiar with the main findings of research into these types of programmes and the main associations, networks and publications relating to them so that they can continue learning throughout their careers.
- Be aware of how bilingual schools are organised and how they should be coordinated.
- Teach a non-linguistic subject in their field through the medium of English.
- Apply student-centred communicative methodologies in the CLIL classroom, such as project-based learning, task-based language teaching and cooperative learning.
- Design integrated curricula for their subject containing linguistic content and draw up bilingual teaching programmes.
- Use the European Language Portfolio in the bilingual classroom.
- Create and adapt teaching materials for bilingual education, transforming authentic material into teaching material and adjusting the source language level.
- Incorporate new teaching strategies, new materials and new information technologies into bilingual education, harnessing the flow of information they offer for educational purposes.
- Evaluate linguistic and non-linguistic content in bilingual education in a coordinated manner.
The degree summary contains the full list of academic comeptencies certified by the Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education and CLIL.
- This master’s programme does not automatically qualify graduates for professional practice.
- It qualifies graduates for admission to doctoral programmes.
- The content delivered during the programme aims to equip students with a series of highly useful, innovative skills for teaching in bilingual programmes. In this regard, it provides comprehensive training for teachers from bilingual schools where a second language is used to teach official curricula.
This training covers:
- Linguistic theory to explain the theoretical underpinnings of bilingual education.
- Language teaching methodology for use in the classroom.
- Language training for teachers to equip them to use English at bilingual centres, based on the L2 standard in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL). This language training will focus on the practical use of oral and written skills in the registers and areas relevant to communication and interaction in the classroom and to the content of the subjects to be taught using the target language.