Community and Youth Work Studies with Integrated Foundation Year BA (Hons)

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.

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Overview

The BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work degree will prepare you for a successful career in working with young people and in communities across a variety of settings, with a particular focus on personal and social development.

This youth work course, which received 100% Overall Satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2022, offers you the opportunity to develop your ability to work with communities and young people (both theoretically and via extensive practice) and study the knowledge, skills and values of youth and community work in order to graduate with a professional JNC qualification in Youth Work alongside your degree.

Just like the practice of community and youth work, this course has been designed in a creative way and offers much more than lectures and writing essays, by going beyond the theoretical. You will learn how to understand the problems faced by young people and communities and how to change situations and realities. The curriculum focuses on achieving social justice and celebrating the assets that are abundant in communities and societies, particularly within those communities that have been disadvantaged. Our curriculum covers everything from transformational informal education to organisational management.

This BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work Studies course at the University of Sunderland is the only professionally qualifying Youth Work degree in the North East and offers you a holistic learning experience which has professional practice and employability built in. It celebrates young people and communities and supports critical awareness of the social inequality that shapes lives. If you’re ready to make a positive difference in the world, the team are ready to hear from you.

Why us?

This course has 100% Overall Satisfaction (National Student Survey 2022)
The University of Sunderland has been delivering this youth work course for over 40 years
Our Social Work courses are ranked 27th in the UK (The Complete University Guide 2023)
The course is delivered by experienced and qualified community and youth workers who will teach and support you on your professional journey. This will include close pastoral support and support to become competent and confident professionals.

We are committed to offering a family-friendly timetable to ensure we don’t just talk about equality, but live it too
If you are already working in community and youth work, there may be the option to use work hours towards your placement learning
We are the only professionally qualifying (JNC) Youth Work degree in the North East
We don’t just focus on theory, but we embed this learning with practice

Course structure

During your studying, some of your learning will take place in the classroom, learning from each other and reading. However, 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 Community and Youth Work degree. By the time you graduate, you will have spent at least 800 hours in professional practice, within a minimum of two local community and youth work organisations. This means your learning can evolve in surprising places, such as around a pool table, on a walk, in a community café, or in a multi-agency meeting.

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 a setting which is not your workplace, to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from your placement experience.

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-toone support from a designated lecturer who will support your progress from Fresher’s week to graduation.

Foundation year

The Social Sciences and Law Integrated Foundation Year includes five modules:

Essential Study Skills (20 credits)
Maths (20 credits)
Foundation module (40 credits)
Project (20 credits)
Subject Specialism (20 credits)

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Year 1 (national level 4):

Learning from Lives (20 credits)

Explore your own personal, social, cultural and political development through a process of reflection and engaged dialogue. Examine influencing factors on young people's personal and social identity development in context. Problematise the complex notion of 'youth' and explore a biographical approach to 'youth' transitions.

Understanding Society (20 credits)

Explore social theories and examine the concepts of society and their relationship with community and youth work practice. Gain an understanding of the role of power and the influence of class, race and gender in society. Undertake your own community study to identify how sociological theory can explain social life.

Principles of Informal Education (20 credits)

Develop an understanding of the key principles of informal education and their application to current work with young people and communities in a variety of settings. Link your experience of professional practice to a theoretical framework and develop practical skills in fostering professional relationships. Consider how informal education can make a contribution to addressing inequality issues in working with young people and communities.

Skills for Practice (20 credits)

Gain an understanding of the academic skills needed for university and the basic skills required for the professional practice of Community and Youth Work. Learn about research methods, acquire essential study skills and explore your own and others' professional boundaries. Develop self-awareness regarding effective one to one interactions.

Placement Part One (20 credits)

Undertake a work placement throughout the year in a local community and/or youth project. Learn all the things you can't learn within a classroom and use your placement experience to explore, examine and develop your skills and knowledge.

Placement Part Two (20 credits)

Undertake a second placement module, allowing you the flexibility to work with a different organisation if you do not wish to, or are unable, to continue with your current one.

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Year 2 (national level 5):

Ethical Practice (20 credits)

Explore the three central themes necessary for the development of critical professional practice. Critically reflect on strategies for implementing equal opportunities and user participation through an empowering educational process. Engage in critical dialogue and identify the practical relevance of theory to ethical youth work practice.

Policy Context (20 credits)

Gain a critical understanding of the major political ideologies underpinning the policy context in the UK. Examine social policies relevant to working with young people and have the opportunity to locate professional practice. Explore how policies are operationalised and consider their impact on inequalities.

Organisational Management (20 credits)

Explore different aspects of management theory, organisational structure and culture, and their relevance to working with young people and communities. Examine the practical aspects of social management in a climate of change and learn how to apply these to the central principles of community and youth work practice. Develop strategies and skills for effective community participation and supporting change within organisations.

Group Work and Integrated Practice (20 credits)

Undertake this reflective opportunity to apply the essential theories of group work to the everyday practice of Community and Youth Work.

Placement Part One (20 credits)

Undertake a work placement within a local Community or Youth Work setting. Demonstrate your ability to take responsibility for an area of practice in order to develop skills in leadership, planning and evaluation.

Placement Part Two (20 credits)

Undertake a second placement module, allowing you the flexibility to work with a different organisation if you do not wish to, or are unable, to continue with your current one.

Final year (national level 6):

Supervision (10 credits)

Equip yourself with the knowledge, values and skills needed to be a competent professional and an empowering supervisor of staff and volunteers within a Community and Youth Work setting.

Entrepreneurship and Project Management (20 credits)

Examine the current emphasis on developing social enterprises to deliver services in the public sector. Explore the ways in which management theory has influenced the development of services in the public and voluntary sector. Develop and apply business and entrepreneurial skills to prepare yourself for professional opportunities after graduating. Gain the ability to apply principles and values linked to equality, diversity and empowerment to practice.

Education for Transformation (20 credits)

Gain an understanding of critical education theory and its contribution to promoting social justice within community based settings. Focus on the wider educational aspects of working with young people and learn about the contribution that critical education can make to the empowerment of communities. Identify and plan focused educational interventions within a variety of professional contexts.

Equality, Diversity and Social Justice (20 credits)

Investigate the importance of the equal opportunities project in relation to Community and Youth Work practice and study equality, diversity and social justice within this context. Undertake an examination of equal opportunity codes of practice, an exploration of strategies to promote equality, diversity and social justice within an anti-discriminatory framework for practice, and an examination of the role of the professional practitioner within this process.

Research for Practice/Dissertation (30 credits)

Build on your understanding of the use of research in professional practice gained throughout the course by choosing an area of interest to undertake a research project. Develop your ability to review literature and build research skills and knowledge. Understand the principles and processes of social research and explore issues of power, values and ethics, and how these issues affect research design and practice. Learn how to organise data, analyse information and present findings.

Advanced Practice or an elective module (20 credits)

Choose a module from a wide variety of courses across the University or undertake a further placement where you will manage and evaluate a specific project. Demonstrate your skills as an independent professional practitioner and enhance your knowledge in leading and managing professional work.

More about BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work Studies with Integrated Foundation Year at Sunderland

Discover more articles

You can access free Wi-Fi throughout the University campus, so you can work from anywhere. If you don't want to carry a laptop around, just use one of the University’s PCs or Macs. We have hundreds of computers for you to use in the Murray Library, St Peter's Library, and the David Goldman Informatics Centre. If you ever have any technical problems, just ask the friendly helpdesk team.
IT provision
University library services will be central to your study experience and are delivered at our two libraries on campus, as well as online. Our libraries offer a variety of study environments to meet your needs, including areas for groupwork, individual and silent study. You’ll also have access to desktop PCs, space to use your own mobile technology and printing facilities.

The library works closely with academic staff within each faculty to offer specialist, industry standard resources in your subject discipline. The Faculty of Social Sciences provides thousands of relevant books and e-books, with many more titles available through the inter-library loan service. You’ll also have access to a comprehensive range of print and electronic journals which are always kept up to date, including Project Muse, Lexis, JSTOR and many more.

To find out more information, visit our University Library website.
Library Services - social sciences
Map and directions

Facilities

You'll be based at the recently refurbished Wearside View, situated on the award-winning Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's. This stunning riverside location benefits from dedicated library services and has superb transport links with the city centre and City Campus.

Entry requirements

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.

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, T 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.

Is your qualification not displaying here? For international qualifications, search our full list of international entry requirements for this course.

Fees and finance

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.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

The Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's by night

Career ready

Qualified community and youth workers are 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 go on to work and lead within traditional community and youth work, mental health, prisons, schools, housing agencies, children's rights, and many other areas. Importantly, many of our graduates often end up working with some of the most ignored and deprived communities. Some of our recent graduate careers include “Opiate Worker”, “Missing Children’s Worker”, “Supported Accommodation Manager”, “Domestic Abuse Service Team Leader”, “Team Around the Community Worker” and “Advocacy and Participation Lead”.

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.

To find out more about what community and youth work involves, read our article.

Centre for Applied Social Sciences

The University of Sunderland’s Centre for Applied Social Sciences (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 in areas relating to children, young people and families.

800 hours of placements

An important part of our Community and Youth Work course is the work-based experience you'll gain from your placements. By the time you graduate, you will have spent at least 800 hours in professional practice, enhancing your youth worker training. As well as exposing you to a range of experiences and helping you understand the realities of community and youth work, placements are an excellent way of establishing professional contacts for your career.

Related courses

BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work Studies

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Education and Society.

Page last updated: 16 March 2023

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.

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Community and Youth Work Studies with Integrated Foundation Year BA (Hons)

Overview

Why us?

Course structure

Foundation year

Year 1 (national level 4):

Year 2 (national level 5):

Final year (national level 6):

More about BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work Studies with Integrated Foundation Year at Sunderland

Drew Dalton: Why Social Sciences make you think differently

What is community and youth work?

Facilities

Entry requirements

Fees and finance

Career ready

Centre for Applied Social Sciences

800 hours of placements

Meet the team — BA (Hons) Community and Youth Work Studies with Integrated Foundation Year

Related courses

Contact

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