If you are applying for this course from within the UK, click apply now
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
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If you are applying for this course from within the UK, click apply now
Course starts: 20 September 2021Apply now
This is a four-year version of our popular BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work Studies course, with an integrated foundation year. Transform the lives of vulnerable communities. Empower disadvantaged young people to achieve their potential. Qualify for an incredibly satisfying career where you'll be changing lives every day.
Register your interestThis degree combines an honours degree with a professional qualification in youth work, training you to become a fully qualified youth worker with a nationally recognised professional qualification.
As a professional Community and Youth worker you will make a real difference to the lives of young people aged between 13 and 19. You'll promote their personal and social development, and empower them to make positive decisions for themselves and for their communities.
Many of your class materials will be online but will be enhanced with on-campus sessions; tutors will be able to work more closely with you to aid understanding of your subject.
There will be a mix of materials online, including some lectures and directed exercises, with a series of tasks to do each week. You are going to be taught some really interesting topics this year, including social theories, gender, race, global rights and wrongs, as well as Essential Study Skills and Practical Maths, to help you succeed in your chosen undergraduate degree.
There will be lots of opportunities for both face-to-face and online contact, and you will be assigned a personal tutor, as well as having your pathway leader and module leaders for support and guidance. Regular contact between tutors and students will be encouraged via the use of technologies including Canvas, email, Skype and Microsoft Teams.
We will make all reasonable efforts to provide the courses and student experience outlined. It may be necessary to make changes in response to COVID-19 whilst we continue to follow government guidance. View our FAQs for more information or contact us.
Community and Youth Work is a vocation, and it’s important to learn from real work-based experience as well as from academic study. For this reason, work placements are an integral part of the degree. By the time you graduate you will have spent at least 888 hours in professional practice.
If you’re already working in a community and youth work setting, then you may be able to take a placement at your workplace, as long as the work is relevant and there are adequate supervision arrangements in place. You’ll also need to complete at least one placement in setting which is not your workplace, to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from your placement experience.
In the second year you’ll have the opportunity to complete one of your work placements in Germany.
Our teaching style is true to the collaborative, empowering and reflective nature of Community and Youth Work. You will be assessed through essays, group work, presentations, reports and reflective pieces; assessment methods are clearly linked to the skills needed in practice. Throughout your degree you will have one to one support from a designated lecturer who will support your progress from Fresher’s week to Graduation.
We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.
The Integrated Foundation Year is specially designed to support you where you have just missed the grades required for direct entry onto a three-year degree, or if you have relevant work experience and are now looking to broaden your subject knowledge but want more time to develop study skills before starting your degree.
Entry requirements are provided for guidance only and we may offer you an entrance interview which will help us determine your eligibility for your chosen degree. This enables us to consider making you an offer if you are perhaps a mature student who has been out of education for a period of time, or you have gained significant knowledge and skills through employment rather than traditional education.
Eligible entry qualifications:
1. Normally a minimum of three Level 2 qualifications (NVQ, GCSE or equivalent ), including Maths and English at grade C or above** and a minimum of 40 UCAS tariff points from Level 3 qualifications (e.g. A or AS Levels, BTEC certificates/diplomas, access courses or equivalent)
OR
2. Demonstrable evidence of appropriate knowledge and skills acquired from at least three years of post-school work experience.
If you are unsure of whether you think you might be suitable for the course, please contact us!
** If you have studied for a GCSE which has a numerical grade then you will need to achieve a grade 4 or above. Equivalent alternative qualifications are also accepted, such as Level 2 Key Skills in Communication and Application of Number. If you have not achieved a grade C in Maths and English we may be able to work with you to ensure that you are able to gain these in the first year of the course, depending on your experience.
If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.
To apply for the BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work with Integrated Foundation Year, you must also have experience (voluntary or paid) in a community and/or youth work setting. This could include volunteering during weekends, evenings, or holidays. You should clearly describe this experience in the personal statement section of your application.
We interview all applicants, and you should be ready to talk about your voluntary or paid experience in a community and/or youth work setting in the interview.
Please note that you must also have a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure Barring Service check in order to go on placements.
For more information about Integrated Foundation Year programmes, including more detailed module information, please see our Help and Advice articles.
The annual fee for this course is £9,250.
If you are a full-time UK student you may be eligible to receive financial support to cover your fee and maintenance loan for the full four years.
Please note, this course is not available to international students.
If you are not sure whether you qualify as a UK, EU or international student, find out more in our Help and Advice article.
Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.
Use our scholarships calculator to see what you may be entitled to.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
Qualified Community and Youth Workers remain in high demand. With a varied repertoire of value based and practice related skills, Community and Youth Workers find employment throughout local authorities and the voluntary, charity and social enterprise sectors. We are proud that our alumni work in a wide variety of roles including traditional community and youth work, mental health, prisons, schools, housing agency, children’s rights and many more areas.
As a qualified professional, you’ll be eligible for the higher levels of salary scales set by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Youth and Community Workers.
The University of Sunderland’s Centre for Applied Social Studies (CASS) regularly hosts visiting speakers, and it can be an excellent way to learn from the real-life experience of people who already have a strong track record in social policy.
CASS is the centre for applied social science research at the University, and you may find opportunities to collaborate with the academic team – particularly on areas relating to children, young people and families.
Community and youth work is a vocation, and it's important to learn from real-work based experience as well as from academic study. For this reason, work placements are an integral part of the degree. By the time you graduate you will have spent at least 888 hours in professional practice. As well as exposing you to a range of experiences and helping you understand the realities of community and youth work, placements are also an excellent way of establishing professional contacts for your career.
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