Who is it for?
If you aspire to contribute to ensuring children have an optimal start in life, there are critical questions to delve into. For instance, how can we best understand and meet the individual needs of all the children within our care UCP’s BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies (top-up) programme is designed to explore these questions, and others, which are pivotal within the first 8 years of a child’s educational experience.
You will turn your Level 5 qualification – such as a diploma, teaching apprenticeship or foundation degree – into a full Bachelor’s degree. You will develop a deeper understanding of how people learn, explore education about society and build on your research skills. You will explore the physical, emotional, and mental development of a child to hone the skills needed to make a positive impact on their lives. Additionally, you have the flexibility to tailor your degree via a research project, cultivating specialized skills highly valued in various professions.
Our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies (top-up) programme has been designed to offer those who want to develop their career working with younger children an opportunity to gain a qualification which combines academic knowledge and practical skills. This programme will help to develop professional skills and knowledge currently in demand across the Early Years sector such as partnership working, leadership and understanding of educational psychology.
You’ll study how children develop, as well as factors which affect their learning and development, child psychology and the services which support wellbeing and psychological health. The programme will also provide you with a broader understanding of Early Years policy and practice and how this can be managed and developed effectively within your own and wider settings. Through the course, you have opportunities to take part in work-based learning with placement opportunities, during which you will be encouraged to be critically reflective of your impact in the workplace. The course meets the Level 3 (Early Years Educator or equivalent) requirements and also incorporates the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies.
There will continue to be a very high demand for teachers in the region with a 19% increase in 5 to 14-year-olds from 2015 to 2036 (Source: Cambridgeshire Research Group, 2015 Based Population Forecasts). This makes education a growing sector offering great local employment opportunities.
UCP is currently working with the Early Childhood Studies Degree Network to gain recognition of this degree pathway and certification of Graduate Practitioner Competencies at Level 6 for our graduates on completion, which is also recognised by the Department for Education’s Career Progression for the Early Years Workforce.This will then qualify you to work as an Early Years Educator and you’ll develop a portfolio of evidence of your skills and practice at Level 6 to present to Early Years employers. This will be subject to approval, please contact UCP or the course team for the latest information.
BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies provides a great pathway to postgraduate study and to Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or initial teacher training programmes across the education sector.
The courses at University Centre Peterborough are studied in smaller class sizes compared with other universities, a typical class size is under 20 students.
To view the course specification, click here.
