About Childhood and Youth Studies, BA (Hons) - at University of Portsmouth

Overview

Learn the skills and get the workplace experience to support children and young people with equality at the heart of your practice on this Childhood and Youth studies degree.

You'll discover how factors such as the education system, youth culture and social media affect children's development. You’ll also have the chance to explore optional topics such as outdoor education, safeguarding and the role of play in a child’s development, and to focus your studies on a particular specialism - education and teaching, community and youth/family provision, or leadership and enterprise.

Develop the knowledge and skills to support children with special educational needs (SEN) and those from a care background, making sure no child misses out on the educational and development opportunities available to them.

After the course, you’ll be set for a career supporting children and their families in areas such as youth work, social care and education.

Course highlights

• Get at least 60 hours of experience working with children in your second year
• Have the opportunity to do an additional work placement year after your second or third year on this Connected Degree - we're the only UK university to offer flexible sandwich placements for undergraduates
• Learn from lecturers with diverse professional backgrounds – from youth work and policing to teaching and SEN
• Gain current insights from your lecturers’ research on themes such as child bereavement and the role of digital tools in supporting learning and wellbeing
• Study the latest techniques in education, including outdoor learning and Forest School
• Develop practical skills for careers working with children in our Teacher Education Centre - a fun, bright and inspiring immersive learning space
• Connect with potential employers through events and workshops with organisations such as an immersive theatre company and a charity that helps children develop life skills through sport
• Build a professional eportfolio featuring examples of your work – essential for standing out in the job market after the course
• Get ready for a career in social work with our optional Social Pedagogy pathway – you’ll spend more time on placement and graduate as a ‘Social Pedagogy Practitioner’, endorsed by the Social Pedagogy Professional Association (SPPA)
• Take advantage of our Institution-Wide Language Programme and learn a foreign language for free as part of your degree, choosing from Arabic, British Sign Language, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish
• Opt to do a foundation year with ICP to get uni-ready ahead of this course, then take up a guaranteed place on this full Bachelor's degree when you successfully finish your foundation year

Endorsed by:

You can choose modules that lead to the exit award BA Childhood and Youth Studies with Social Pedagogy. This pathway is endorsed by the Social Pedagogy Professional Association (SPPA), which means you can graduate as a "Social Pedagogy Practitioner".

This demonstrates that you meet the SPPA's Standards of Proficiency, which are central to developing relationship-centred, dialogic practice that supports children and young people, particularly those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged.

Careers and opportunities

There will always be a demand for skilled and knowledgeable professionals to work with children and young people.

As well as specialist expertise, this course helps you develop transferable skills valued by all kinds of employers, such as:

• teamworking
• leadership
• people management
• contextual communication
• self-organisation
• time management
• resilience

What areas can you work in with a childhood and youth studies degree?

After the course, you could work in areas such as:

• youth work
• social care
• educational welfare
• probation
• teaching (with further study)
• policing

Graduate destinations

Roles our graduates have taken on include:

• nursery manager
• family support worker
• training assessor
• employability coordinator
• careers advisor
• teacher
• schools liaison officer

Ongoing career support – up to 5 years after you graduateGet experience while you study with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities and work experience. Towards the end of your degree and after graduation, you'll get 1-to-1 support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to find your perfect role.Futureproof your career

Placement year (optional)

In addition to your compulsory placements during year two, you can also choose to do a paid work placement year after your second or third year. This lets you put your new skills to work while developing valuable links with employers.

However long you do a placement for, it’s fantastic for your CV and will really help you stand out when applying for jobs after graduation. Mentoring and support throughout your placement will help you to get the most from the experience.

You could also choose to set up your own business, or take a voluntary placement.

Securing a placement

We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your aspirations. We have strong links with a wide variety of placement providers including colleges, schools, other educational institutions, and charities in the UK and abroad. 

Previous placement destinations

Previous students have secured placement positions at organisations such as:

• Active Communities Network – a sport for development charity
• Home-Start – helping families through challenging times
• Pompey Pirates – making reading and writing fun
• National Citizen Service – personal and social development for 16-17 year-olds
• Primary and secondary schools
• Motiv8 South – supporting life chances for young people
• Barnardos

Studying abroad

You can choose to use your placement year to extend your studies abroad. We have close links with universities in countries such as:

• Australia
• China
• Czech Republic
• Italy
• Panama
• Spain
• Sweden

---

Entry requirements for this course

Contact University of Portsmouth to find course entry requirements.

---

View all courses at University of Portsmouth

---

Related information

Studying in United Kingdom