Bachelor of Arts (Hons ) in Community Development and Youth Studies

at University of Bolton United Kingdom

Congratulations. You’re considering a career in the world’s most in-demand profession*. Concerned with the building and maintenance of software systems and other computer-based solutions, software engineering is a truly global activity. By examining all elements of the process – from initial understanding of the problem to be solved, through analysis, design, and development, to testing, documentation and maintenance – this degree offers you a focused education in software engineering, ready to impress potential employers.

Our dedicated staff team offers a balance of academic rigour, industrial experience and advanced technical expertise. We will support you to explore the underlying principles of software engineering, while helping you gain knowledge and practical experience of the latest technologies. You will be encouraged to appreciate both the technical and human aspects involved in areas such as the lifecycle of software systems, software design, systems analysis, programming, database specification and design, and system security.

In addition to technical knowledge and expertise, you will have opportunities to gain experience in team working, communication and presentation, problem solving and time management. Our focus is on helping you develop industry-relevant knowledge and skills, so that you are well prepared for a career in software engineering.

Highlights

• Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
• We prefer to keep lecture and practical classes relatively small, so that you have plenty of opportunities to us ask questions and get help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
• We have well-established links with the software engineering industry, and continually monitor and update the course to make sure the content is industry-relevant and introduces you to the latest thinking and innovations.
• We are committed to helping you develop your employability and career network. You will be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning, help you make contacts in the industry and contribute to your professional development.
• By designing the course assignments and projects so that they mimic industry pipelines and standards, we aim to give you a real feel for a career in software engineering.

Key Features

• We offer a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
• We want to work with you as an individual, giving you access to the help and support you need to succeed.
• Our dedicated IT suites feature high-specification hardware and industry-standard software.
• Many of our computing facilities can be accessed across the internet, allowing you to work on your assignments whenever and wherever you choose.
• We will help and support you to develop a portfolio of work that demonstrates your skills in readiness to impress potential employers.

Business management qualifications open doors and are considered essential whether you’re looking to pursue a career in business, or achieve higher levels of responsibility in your current work. We’ll support you to enhance your existing Foundation Degree or HND-level knowledge and skills, ready to achieve the status of BSc (Hons) Business Management (Finance) Top-up graduate. You can study advanced aspects of business, management and finance, enhance your professional skills, and boost your employability.

Building on your prior studies, we’ll guide you as you explore specialist areas including financial reporting for management, the practice and regulation of financial accounting, and the role of the finance manager. This Honours-level programme will also support you to gain knowledge of strategic management, and develop critical inquiry and research skills to improve your work and enhance its quality. When you successfully complete the course, you’ll also receive the CMI Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management and benefit from exemptions from the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Diploma in Business and Accounting.

Developing your employability is a key focus of this dynamic and flexible programme. Real-life case studies, guest speakers and industry visits are designed to help you to understand the business environment and the needs of employers in local, national and international contexts. We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as communication, data analysis, time management, team working and problem solving.

We also aim to help you develop lifelong learning skills so that you can take ownership of your professional development for the future, maximising your potential for success.

Highlights

• The Institute of Management Greater Manchester – and the wider University – provide a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
• On successful completion of this dual award course you’ll receive both an academic degree and a professionally-recognised management qualification – the CMI Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management. You don’t need to take extra exams or coursework to achieve the Award – we combine our degree module and CMI assessments streamlining your route to both qualifications.
• On the Business Management (Finance) Top-up pathway you’ll also have the opportunity to gain exemptions from the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Diploma in Business and Accounting.
• This course is part of our Business Management suite of degrees. At Honours level, depending on your prior studies, you can follow this specialist pathway in Finance, choose the core Business Management route, or select one of our other specialist pathways in Enterprise, People Management, Supply Chain, Law, Marketing or Retail.
• Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced and enthusiastic lecturers who have worked in a wide range of businesses ranging from multinational organisation to SMEs.
• We’ll introduce you to your course and new study environment through a bespoke induction programme focused on helping you transition smoothly and effectively to Honours-level study.

Key Features

• This course is offered within our vibrant Institute of Management environment in Bolton town centre.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent support offered by our teaching staff.
• We regularly invite guest speakers who hold senior positions in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and advice.
• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching. We offer a robust academic underpinning to your studies of business management.
• Our dedicated team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research skills and apply these during your final year dissertation or work-based project (if you’re in suitable employment).

Professional recognition

• Graduates of our BSc (Hons) Business Management (Finance) Top-up course will receive the Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management from the CMI (Chartered Management Institute).
• Additionally, graduates of the BSc (Hons) Business Management (Finance) Top-up pathway will benefit from exemptions from the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Diploma in Business and Accounting.

You are unique and we want to help you gain the skills and self-belief to showcase your worth and realise your potential. The University of Bolton's MA (Specialist Title) for Creative Industries: Extended course focuses on helping you learn to compete with confidence for your dream job or build your own successful business from the ground up. We’ll guide you as you gain a strategic blend of academic, analytical, creative and professional skills. As a graduate of this course, you’ll possess an impressive all-round combination of creative practice, commercial awareness and business-relevant knowledge. Overall, this course offers you the opportunity to develop projects in your specialist area of creative practice coupled with essential skills development for business and leadership that will take your CV to the next level.

Gain the skills and confidence to achieve your career ideals
The creative industries are highly competitive so we want to help you stand head and shoulders above the crowd. Throughout the programme, we’ll use tried and tested, research-informed coaching and training methods to support your development of key skills that are highly relevant to the creative industries. These will range from postgraduate-level skills in research, problem-solving, professional presentation and synthesis to interpersonal and business-relevant skills such as innovative thinking, collaboration, leadership and project management, the effective use of technology, public speaking and professionalism. Together, these will help you to develop your profile in your chosen creative industry and ensure your work reaches your desired audience.

Pursue your own creative practice
Our expert team will support you to develop your unique body of creative work, express your creative style and refine your practice. We’ll support you as you learn to design, plan and deliver projects that are as individual as you are. We’ll guide you as you set and achieve your own personal, academic and professional goals, helping you to develop and demonstrate an original and distinctive approach to your specialised creative area. We’ll work to stimulate your creative thinking and enhance your professional practice through a challenging programme of study which promotes critical self-awareness.

Strengthen your understanding of context
To use your knowledge to best effect, you need a sound understanding of context. To inform your creative practice, you’ll explore historical and contemporary concepts and theories relevant to the creative industries and artistic practice during this course. In addition, you’ll also need an in-depth understanding of the commercial and professional creative industries environment you wish to join. This course will help you identify the creative practice, employability and transferable skills you’ll need to gain entry to your chosen field and support you to develop those very skills.

Mastering your vision
You’ll have the opportunity to independently plan and deliver a professionally relevant project at master’s level. This is known as the Professional Dissertation and may take a variety of forms such as a large-scale technical or creative project that results in an online or physical exhibition, a live project working with industry or in the community, an event or a publication. For many students, this is the most exciting element of the course and the culmination of their studies. It will allow you to demonstrate the full range of your skills and knowledge and impress potential employers, clients or collaborators.

An ideal course for graduates and professionals of creative industries
This course should appeal to (but is not limited to) graduates and professionals in areas such as Animation, Art and Design, Creative Writing, Dance, Fashion, Fine Art, Games Art and Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Media, Performance, Photography, Special and Visual Effects, Textiles and Surface Design.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a different timeframe?
We also offer this course full-time over 12 months or part-time over 24 months. For details of the 12-month course, please visit our full-time MA (Specialist Title) for Creative Industries course search web page. Alternatively, to find out more and apply for the 24-month course, please visit our part-time MA (Specialist Title) for Creative Industries course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• You may choose to focus on a single discipline or combine several areas of practice to follow an interdisciplinary route. When you successfully complete the master's, your degree title will be chosen to reflect the focus of your studies.
• Our industry?engaged staff are practising artists, writers and performers. You'll benefit from our strong industry links with a range of arts, cultural and creative organisations across Greater Manchester and the North West region, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• You'll be able to make use of industry-standard specialist facilities across the University of Bolton's Faculty of Engineering, Arts and Creative Technologies to develop high-quality creative outputs.
• This MA is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, which offers shared modules designed to give you a wider business perspective, including tax self-assessment, invoicing, intellectual property and risk assessments, as well as knowing how to start a business and to take advantage of opportunities for enterprise development.

Key Features

• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to your creative practice and professional development needs.
• We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers and practitioners that gives you opportunities to network with and learn from successful professionals working in the creative industries.
• We'll offer you opportunities for interdisciplinary work and collaboration, to take part in live projects and to showcase your work to the public and potential employers or clients.
• You'll benefit from our strong industry links with local and regional arts, culture and trade organisations, studios, galleries, games and film FX companies, publishers, manufacturers and companies specialising in creative art and design practice.
• Your final master’s degree title will reflect your specialist area(s) of practice (please note that the final award title will be selected in agreement with the University within the parameters specified in programme documentation). For example, if your specialist area of practice is Media Production, you could graduate with a degree called MA Media Production for Creative Industries.

Our MSc in Motorsport Engineering focuses on preparing you for industry. It’s designed to take you from your bachelor’s degree to a role in the motorsport or automotive industries. Written with industry collaboration, our dedicated, knowledgeable team will cover the key areas needed to make you stand out to employers. We’ll concentrate on technological advancements, such as additive manufacturing (commonly called 3D printing), advanced powertrains, electric vehicles, big data and industry 4.0.

By working with industry players like Airbus, HAAS F1, M-Sport, Prodrive and RML to write the programme, we’re ensuring that the core ethos, skills and projects are industry-centred, realistic and aimed to maximise your employability. The fourth industrial revolution, known as industry 4.0, is happening around us and the motorsport and automotive industries are leading these changes. We’ll explore the latest in motorsport vehicle dynamics, advanced powertrain technologies, and the design and development of electric vehicles. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team will work to help you prepare to develop and innovate as the industry evolves.

Additionally, the course is designed to address all the competencies set out by the Engineering Council and UK-SPEC, and to support you to achieve Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. So, if you’re an ambitious motorsport or automotive engineering graduate seeking to develop advanced digital manufacturing and production engineering knowledge while boosting your understanding of core motorsports engineering principles, this master’s degree should prove an excellent investment in your future.

Highlights

• Your studies will be based in the purpose-built National Centre for Motorsport Engineering (NCME) at the University of Bolton.
• This master’s course is designed to meet professional institution standards in the UK, and support your achievement of Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
• Our dedicated staff team, who possess a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offers face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support.

Key Features

• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Our approach to teaching and learning is ‘student-centred’, so we’ll work with you on an individual basis, providing tailored help and support throughout your studies.
• By studying alongside students and professionals from other engineering specialisms or alternative industrial sectors, you can benefit from a wider range of knowledge and experience that supports cross-disciplinary thinking.
• This course is based at the University of Bolton’s campus in the North West of England.
• We also offer master’s degrees and postgraduate apprenticeships in Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, and this programme is part of a well-established suite of master’s programmes offered by the University of Bolton.

Professional recognition

• The University of Bolton’s MSc Motorsport Engineering uses UK-SPEC learning outcomes and is designed to meet the academic requirements leading to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. Please see the Engineering Council UK website for further details of UK-SPEC.
• We’ll be seeking accreditation of the MSc Motorsport Engineering for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

The University of Bolton’s MSc in Digital Dental Technology offers you the opportunity to develop skills using digital dental systems to manufacture appliances in fixed prosthodontics, removable prosthodontics and orthodontics. It will support you to further your knowledge of how digital solutions can assist with advanced techniques, including dental implants. In addition, we’ll help you build your business and transferable skills ready to take on leadership and management roles or run your own commercial dental laboratory. Overall, this postgraduate degree is an ideal academic progression for dental technicians and clinical professionals who have suitable training and experience in dental technology.

Studying this interdisciplinary course will help to develop your understanding of how principles and techniques from different fields such as engineering, materials science, and computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) can be brought together to advance dental technology. We’ll support you as you gain a solid understanding of essential engineering principles, enhance your knowledge of dental biomaterials and fabrication, and explore essential areas of biomedicine, such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. We also hope to inspire you to see how these different disciplines can be combined to drive future innovations in dental technology, as well as provide you with a sound background in research methodology and critical thinking that will support you if choose to a career in dental research and development.

Our industry-experienced team will guide you as you gain an in-depth knowledge of digital technology and manufacturing practices. Your training will offer plenty of hands-on experience as you learn to design and manufacture advanced dental appliances and implant restorations that are biomechanically acceptable.

Your studies will culminate in an independent and substantial piece of research that offers you the chance to demonstrate your mastery of an aspect of contemporary dental technology. In consultation with our team, you’ll choose an area of interest to research (ideally through experiment) so you can mould your own master’s-level learning. You’ll be able to draw together concepts from across your learning as you develop your research methodology, collect and analyse data, interpret and justify your results and draw your conclusions. This exciting process not only helps to develop your advanced dental research knowledge but supports you to gain the critical analysis, problem-solving and lifelong learning skills you’ll need to adapt to new challenges, techniques and procedures throughout your career.

Highlights

• As a dental technology postgraduate, you’ll have access to industry-standard specialist equipment and advanced biomaterials in our purpose-built laboratories in the Queen’s Specialist Building, as well as high-specification engineering facilities at the main campus.
• We offer regular hands-on sessions to help develop your practical capabilities, preparing you to work independently on your dental appliance manufacturing, research case studies and research-based project.
• Our dedicated staff team, who possess a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offers face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support.
• You'll benefit from our strong industry links with dental organisations across the UK, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects and networking.
• Our approach to teaching and learning is ‘student-centred’, so we’ll work with you on an individual basis, providing tailored help and support throughout your studies.
• On successful completion of this course, you'll be awarded the MSc Digital Dental Technology by the University of Bolton.

Key Features

• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• By studying certain modules alongside students and professionals from other areas such as engineering, biomedical engineering and business management, you can benefit from a wider range of knowledge and experience that supports cross-disciplinary thinking.
• We offer opportunities for you to undertake advanced research into a variety of subjects. Whenever possible, we’ll support you to focus on projects that are directly linked to your personal interests and career development needs.
• If the outcomes and standard of your major research project prove to be appropriate, we’ll support you to reformat your project into an academic paper for submission to an academic journal, ready to seek publication.
• This course is based at the University of Bolton’s campus in the North West of England.
• Opportunities for progression after completing this master’s degree include dental technology PhD programmes.

The BA (Hons) Learning, Teaching and Assessment in Professional Practice (Top-up) provides a valuable way to use your existing qualifications and knowledge to obtain a degree at the University of Bolton. You’ll have the chance to study a balanced combination of current educational policy and issues, and draw in relevant aspects of sociology, philosophy and psychology. It’s a great opportunity to explore in-depth some of the key current issues affecting education in the UK and abroad.

By thinking about how we learn, we’ll guide you in an exploration of how formal learning, alongside acquired knowledge, shapes our lives, interests and value structures. We’ll also encourage you to research and analyse a range of educational practices, reflecting on your own and others’ experiences of education. This will help you think critically about teaching, learning and assessing and how education is perceived and received.

Highlights

• This course offers you the opportunity to use your existing qualifications and knowledge to obtain a University degree by completing only one year’s extra study.
• Small class sizes mean more keenly focused attention on your learning needs and strategies for success.
• Our experienced professional and approachable tutors will guide and support you throughout your course, delivering online sessions and offering attentive one-to-one support.
• You’ll be studying at a University known for its supportive atmosphere, and get to study alongside students from a variety of backgrounds, each with an individual and unique perspective on education.

Key Features

• You’ll have the chance to take on a systematic and reflective study of education that’s illustrated and informed by the diversity of teaching and learning approaches in different sub-sectors of education.
• You’ll reflect on your current roles and responsibilities to build on the experience you’ve gained in educational settings and learn from the learning and teaching you’ve observed.
• Our teaching draws on your own experiences of learning as a starting point for understanding the formal educational process. You’ll be expected to contribute to research and discussion through critical reflection on your own education and by listening to the experiences of others.
• On successful completion of this course, you’ll be awarded the BA (Hons) Learning, Teaching and Assessment in Professional Practice from the University of Bolton.

Every day we read adverts, engage with websites and spend money based on choices influenced by messages delivered through graphic design. Graphic designers produce content for digital and traditional media. They creatively combine photography, illustration and typography to communicate messages for clients from big brands to small businesses.

This industry has seen massive changes in working methods, practices and media over the last ten years. However, the creative thought process that designers employ remains the same. Built on a series of diverse and challenging practical assignments underpinned by appropriate theory, our Graphic Design degree aims to give you the skills to understand the creative process from start to finish.

The course is designed to help you understand the creative and technical possibilities of contemporary graphics image making coupled with great typography and driven by original thinking. We'll encourage you to explore the theoretical and historical elements that that influence design and think critically about your own work and that of others.

We'll also focus on helping you to develop career-relevant skills. Creativity, technical knowledge, problem solving, team working, independence, time management and communications skills are all essential for success as a professional graphic designer.

Highlights

• Our Art courses are placed in the top ten in the UK for student-to-staff ratio by the Guardian University League Tables 2020, so you have access to individual tutor support and small group teaching.
• You'll have the opportunity to work on client-led briefs and be encouraged to engage in additional live briefs during your spare time so that you can gain industry-relevant professional experience to enhance your CV.
• You'll be encouraged to apply for placements, internships, awards, competitions, masterclasses and other external development opportunities, such as the D&AD (Design and Art Directors) folder clinics – the ‘Oscars’ of graphic arts.
• We'll offer you the opportunity to present your work to the public and impress potential employers during Bolton School of the Arts’ Creative Showcase in your final year.

Key Features

• Our £10 million purpose-built facilities include extensive computer suites featuring the latest design and graphics software, professional standard traditional and digital photographic studios, and fully equipped fine art workshops and studios.
• You can learn to use the latest design software, while being encouraged to generate ideas and problem solve using traditional media and techniques.
• You'll have the opportunity to use traditional graphic design media, including wood block printing, screen printing and lino cutting.
• You'll have access to a rich visiting speaker programme, providing insight into industry experts’ professional practice and up-to-the-minute developments in the sector.
• Our specialist tutors and technical support staff have professional experience and industry connections.
• We offer opportunities for you to participate in foreign study trips, as well as visit current exhibitions and events at galleries and arts centres around the UK. We also encourage you to attend design-related professional development lectures and conferences.

Of all the great computing degree options available at Bolton, this is the most flexible. It draws on key elements from other study pathways to give you a wide-ranging and industry-informed programme. As you progress, you’ll have the opportunity to ‘zoom in’ on aspects of the subject you have personal interest and strengths in, or that support your career or further study goals.

The department’s strong links with business mean you’ll have the chance to work on ‘live briefs’ in your coursework assignments, so you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy real-world context and application for the skills and knowledge we’ll help you develop.

With intentionally small class sizes, we can offer you more meaningful and personalised interaction with our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers – many of whom are active researchers and come with extensive industry insights and experience. Meanwhile, guest speakers and lecturers give you access to highly relevant and up-to-date input from industry settings.

All of this is backed by our well-equipped IT suites, where you’ll get to apply and develop your learning individually and in groups, with expert guidance and support.

Highlights

• Your teaching and tutorial team brings an impressive range of professional experience and technical prowess to the course, so you’ll have the chance to explore and evaluate a range of perspectives relating to your studies.
• We continually monitor and update the course to reflect current and ever-changing issues in computing, and to keep your learning in line with technological advances and innovations.
• A big part of our commitment to your progress is helping you develop your employability and industry networks. So we’ll encourage you to attend guest lectures that give your learning context, offer industry contact, and contribute to your underlying professional development.
• By structuring our module content, assignments and projects to mimic industry processes and standards, we aim to provide an industry-relevant education that leads you towards a successful career.

Key Features

• The department – and the wider University – provides a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
• We’ll focus on your individual needs, and provide personalised support to help find the learning strategies that best support your learning and ultimate success.
• Our dedicated laboratories, servers and end-hosts feature high-specification hardware and the latest software, so you’ll have industry-equivalent hands-on experience.
• You’ll also get to experience the latest technologies, such as OpenStack – developed by Rackspace and NASA.
• As you’d expect, many of our computing facilities are accessible online, so you can work on your assignments wherever you are, and whenever inspiration kicks in.
• We’ll help you build a portfolio of work that demonstrates your skills in developing content for a range of different target devices. This can put you in an advantageous position when you come to approach potential employers.

Designed to assist the next generation of managers in developing the necessary knowledge and skills for career development, our Master’s in International Management aims to offer a comprehensive overview of global management theories and practices, with a focus on the different national and cultural contexts in which companies operate.

Stimulating and challenging, this course combines elements of research, innovation and application, with a view to building your academic and professional skillsets and opening up development opportunities in careers and areas of further study. A key course focus is global decision-making and exploring the role of management in a cross-cultural context, including the concepts and issues relating to diversity and human resource management.

You’ll study across a range of relevant subject areas, such as strategy formulation, sustainable business development, innovative marketing, and finance and accounting for a firm foundation in management skills that can be applied in an international setting.

Highlights

• In an increasingly international business world, awareness of global management practices is desirable among employers. You’ll have the opportunity to build cross-cultural management skills that could assist you in the international employment market.
• Teaching is provided by staff with a specialist knowledge in a range of management areas, with close links to business and industry.
• You can access course materials online and prepare for lessons in advance, allowing for more interactive lessons.
• On successful completion of this course you will be awarded an MSc in International Management.

Key Features

• The programme provides a significant grounding in international management theories and practices.
• You’ll have access to excellent facilities, including our 24/7 library and IT resources, WiFi and comfortable learning areas.
• Join our well-established postgraduate community preparing for careers in executive management.
• We’re committed to helping you develop your employability and career network. You’ll be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning, help you make contacts in industry and contribute to your professional development.

Professional recognition

• Holders of our MSc International Management can apply for the status of Member (MCMI) or Fellow (FCMI) of the Chartered Management Institute. The point at which you can be accepted will depend on factors other than qualifications, such as your responsibilities at work. Full details are available on the CMI website: http://www.managers.org.uk/

At the University of Bolton, we believe that making the link between your course content and real life situations is crucial to your understanding of early childhood studies. Our BA (Hons) Early Years and Childhood Studies degree is a great qualification if you are looking for a career working with pre-primary school children and need to develop the necessary work experience, or if you are already working in the early years’ sector and would like the chance to obtain a formal qualification to support your career development.

Using their wealth of experience from a wide range of settings, our highly-qualified professional tutors will guide you through the theories and research that underpin early years practice and legislation. The work-based element of the course will then help bring your learning to life and give you experience using your new knowledge and skills in the workplace.

In some modules, you may be taught alongside professionals who work in related services and professions. Such connections help promote the multi-agency team approach that is such an important part of the early years childhood agenda. Overall, our supportive team will guide and encourage you, helping you to develop into a confident, capable early years professional.

Highlights

• This is a time of expansion for the early years’ sector with more funding available and further settings needed. Patrick Hayes, Director of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), said in 2016: ‘It is therefore realistic to expect, that at least 500 new nurseries will open in England, to cope with the need for extra places’.
• Our staff members have a range of specialist areas, such as the teaching of English as an additional language in primary education and the improvement of children’s experience of schooling, particularly for those from migrant backgrounds.
• The course covers leadership and management in the early years, aimed at preparing you for additional responsibilities such as team leading or management roles in the sector.
• Our close links and regular engagement with early years’ providers, employers and practitioners ensures our course delivery and content are up-to-date and in line with government policy and guidance.

Key Features

• Combining theory with practical skills, the course is designed to prepare you for a career in early years, or give you a formal qualification with a possible option of progression into primary school education.
• Strong partnership links with local employers in the sector mean there are opportunities for you to undertake work placements, providing meaningful experience to put on your CV.
• Guest lectures from practitioners in the sector provide additional knowledge and alternative viewpoints. Specialist tutors in Health and Community Studies also provide another dimension to your learning. This ensures the course offers a true multi-agency approach.
• In the final year, you’ll have the chance to undertake a small-scale research project focusing on an area of early years and childhood that is particularly interesting to you.
• You’ll have opportunities to learn through role play, which is a great way to develop and practice your skills and understanding.