Foundation Degree/Honours Degree
Working with young people is always exciting, challenging and rewarding.
With: Youth Work, Integrated Youth Practice, Supporting Youth Practice
These courses will not only give you the skills, through supervised work placements, but also the underpinning knowledge every professional requires. In times of change where experience and knowledge are valued highly and where the focus is on a variety of sectors to meet perceived needs, these courses will not disappoint, as they are at the forefront of exciting national developments in career paths for those working with young people.
BA (Hons) Youth Work (JNC recognised through NY A validation)
If you are inspired by the idea of becoming a professional youth worker then our youth work degree may be the route to your success.
This pioneering course has been designed in conjunction with employers to equip you with the skills and knowledge to practice as a youth worker within the framework of integrated services. You will learn how to work in partnership with young people and to develop inclusive and positive activities with them in centres or in the community and through optional media such as performance arts or sport. You will also learn about the related areas of youth justice, substance misuse, advice and guidance through studying alongside students who aim to work in these areas.
You can be flexible in the way you study. One possibility is to keep your job in youth work whilst attending university one day per week in term time. Another is to undertake placements — and you can move between these options.
If you have a passion to make a positive difference to young people’s lives, in the wider integrated youth workforce, involved in such areas as youth justice, substance misuse or advice and guidance, then this is the course for you.
This innovative course has been developed with employers for those who want to work with young people in a broad spectrum of universal support or targeted roles in the context of integrated services. Some of our modules will equip you with the skills and knowledge required to relate to young people, to advise and guide them, and to work in partnership with them through their transition to adulthood. Other modules will deepen your understanding of those particular areas of practice that interest you, such as substance misuse or youth justice, and yet others may provide options for skill development in performance arts or sport.
You can be flexible in the way you study. One possibility is to keep your job in youth justice, advice and guidance or substance misuse work with young people whilst attending university one day per week in term time. Another is to undertake placements — and you can move between these options. You will also have the opportunity to work shadow in a related area of practice including youth work.
If you aspire to work with young people but don’t have much experience and are unsure of the role you want to undertake, then this Foundation Degree is an excellent route to start.
The course is designed to give you a grounding in the basics — the important things like how to relate to young people, to organise activities with them and to maximise their potential. It then supports you in finding out about the various career options and deciding on your way forward. There are opportunities to transfer to BA Youth Work if you want to become a professional youth worker or to progress to BA Integrated Youth Practice if you want to work in the young people’s wider workforce in careers such as substance misuse, youth justice or advice and guidance.
The course will give you the universal skills and knowledge needed to enable positive activities for young people. It will also provide you with the opportunity to develop specialist skills in, for example, performance arts or sport through participation in modules with other students who are specialising in these areas.
You will be in a placement working with young people throughout the course and will have an opportunity to work shadow in alternative settings.
Some of our modules
Youth Work
• Working with Young People
• Contemporary Culture and Community
• Youth Work Practice
• Managing People within Organisations
• Strategic Youth Work Development
Integrated Youth Practice
• Working with Young People
• Contemporary Culture and Community
• Advice and Guidance for Practitioners
• Substance Misuse
• Youth Justice: An Introduction
• Managing People within Organisations
• Partnership Working and the Management of Change
Supporting Youth Practice
• Lifelong Learning
• Working with Young People
• Contemporary Culture and Community
• Youth Work Theory
• Advice and Guidance for Practitioners
• Substance Misuse
Benefits
• a qualification which includes enhanced experience to develop specialist skills
• a qualification suited to the new world of integrated service delivery
• strong links with employers in the region
Career paths
• a range of youth work roles in local authorities and the voluntary sector
• advice and guidance
• youth justice
• young people’s substance misuse services
Are there any placements for this course?
Concurrent placements are compulsory for students who are not already employed.
How will the course be assessed?
Coursework, work-based projects, reflective practice, project learning logs and observations of practice.
Entry requirements
• points for Youth Work degree: 180 UCAS points or equivalent experience plus experience in work with young people and satisfactory enhanced CRB clearance
• points for Integrated Youth Practice degree: 160 UCAS points, experience in work with young people, and satisfactory enhanced CRB clearance
• points for Supporting Youth Practice: 120 UCAS points or equivalent experience and satisfactory enhanced CRB clearance obtained through the University of Gloucestershire
Professional contact/Industry Links
Local authority and voluntary sector youth support agencies
Study Options
Full-time and part-time
Location
Francis Close Hall
Further Information
For further details contact:
The Courses Administrator
University of Gloucestershire
The Institute of Education and Public Services
Francis Close Hall Campus
Swindon Road,
Cheltenham.
GL50 4AZ
Tel : 01242 715138
Fax: 01242 714856
Email: sjrussell@glos.ac.uk