Disability, inclusion and special needs - DISN is a group of 35 academics researching and studying in the fields of inclusive education, disability and special educational needs. The group is unique worldwide in the breadth and depth of this expertise. Countries in which recent research and development have been undertaken include Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Dubai, Egypt, Greece, Ireland, Japan Kenya, Malta, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, USA, and Venezuela.  (Dedicated Research Centre: VICTAR)

Governance, management and leadership - Research and scholarship in Governance, Management and Leadership is located within four themes. The Group is involved in scholarship and empirical projects with published output since 2001 of almost 200 books, journal articles and chapters. (Dedicated Research Centre: CIER)

Knowledge, culture and diversity - Research and scholarship in Knowledge, Culture and Diversity is located within six areas, some of which overlap. This research group is relatively new within the School, but has still managed to attract over £40,000 of research money and has both a strong publication record and over thirty research students. (Dedicated Research Centre: DOMUS)

Language, discourse and society - The Languages, Discourses and Society research group is concerned with the development of cutting edge research on languages and discourses in education, in youth work and, more broadly, in contemporary social life. (Dedicated Research Centre: MOSAIC)

Professional learning and pedagogy - Research in the Professional Learning and Pedagogy Group occurs in three areas: curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; multi-agency working, organizational learning and inter-professional working; and educational theory and policy analysis. (Dedicated Research Centres: CRMDE)