Childhood and Youth Studies

Year one

In your first year you will be introduced to a broad range of skills and knowledge that will support you throughout your study as well as units that focus on the nature of schooling and young people in the context of a changing society.

Core units in this year include:

• Child and Youth Development
• Children, Young People and Social Policy
• Equality and Diversity in Practice
• Health and Wellbeing of the Child and Young Person
• Introduction to Educational Contexts

Year two

As well as consolidating the themes covered in the first year, you will start to focus on a specific area of interest. You’ll also have the opportunity to experience paid or voluntary work with children and young people as part of the Faculty electives programme.

Core units in this year include:

• Global Childhoods
• Professional Practice with Children and Young People
• Youth Culture
• Research with Children and Young People

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

• Children’s Literature
• Children’s Social Minds
• Communicative Strategies for Children
• Development of Learning
• Digital Natives
• Gender, Race and Education

Year three

Your third year will give you the opportunity to specialise through your choice of dissertation topic and a further range of optional units.

Core units in this year include:

• Dissertation
• Young People’s Relationships & Aspirations
• Families in Need

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

• Behaviour Matters
• Creativity
• Childhood, Youth and Film
• Children with (Severe) Learning Difficulties
• Children, Young People and Religion
• Crime, Justice and Young People
• Fairy Tales and Folktales for Children
• Introduction to Teaching
• Issues Relating to Children and Young People’s Mental Health
• Who’s in Charge? 
• Won’t Read, Can’t Read: Failing Readers 
• Working with Looked After Children

Career prospects

You will have an array of employment options open to you. The course is excellent preparation for a career in teaching at either primary or secondary level, although as mentioned it does not provide Qualified Teacher Status so further study would be required.

However, this course is not just for aspiring teachers. You can also go down the route of educational research, educational publishing, youth or social work, plus many other commercial or public sectors career paths.

Roles our graduates have taken on include:

• training assessor
• teacher
• employability coordinator
• careers advisor
• schools liaison officer

Example of what one of our graduates has gone on to do:

• Youth Service, Trainee Youth Worker – running projects for young people

Work experience

This course allows you to take the Learning From Experience (LiFE) option, which lets you earn credits toward your degree for work / research placements, volunteer roles or internships undertaken alongside your studies. The option gives you the opportunity to enhance your employability skills, to reflect on the ways in which you've done so, and to learn to express this to potential employers.

Career planning

To make sure you take the right steps on your career path, we’re here to give you help, support and advice throughout your study. Even after you’ve graduated, we continue to give you support for up to five years.

Employers tell us that they want graduates to be able to demonstrate certain skills when they come out of university. Our courses take account of this. We make sure we prepare you for employment through work-related learning, projects, placements and working in simulated environments that are designed to prepare you for the working world.