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BA (Hons) Early Years Childhood Studies

BA (Hons) Early Years Childhood Studies

Award

BA (Hons)

Start Date

To be confirmed

Duration

3 years

Mode

Full-time

Location

University of Bolton

UCAS Points

96

UCAS Code

X320

Do you want a rewarding career working with younger children? Our BA (Hons) Early Years Childhood Studies degree aims to develop your understanding of the theory and practice of early childhood, supporting you to develop the skills vital for career success in this expanding sector.

Apply Now Download Prospectus Programme Specification

Course Overview

At the University of Bolton, we believe that linking your course content and real-life situations is crucial to your understanding of early childhood studies. Our BA (Hons) Early Years Childhood Studies degree is an excellent qualification if you want a career working with young children and need to develop the necessary work experience. It's also ideal if you're already working with young children and want to obtain a formal qualification to support your career development.

By studying with us, you can develop essential knowledge and understanding of early years and childhood studies while experiencing life at our supportive, student-focused, multicultural campus in the heart of the North West of England. Our highly-qualified professional tutors will draw on their wealth of experience from a wide range of settings as they guide you through the theories and research that underpin early childhood practices. The work-based element of the course will 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. These connections help promote the multi-agency team approach that is such an important part of the early childhood agenda. 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.

Overall, our supportive team will guide and encourage you, helping you develop into a confident, capable early years professional.

Highlights

Key Features

Entry Requirements

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

Career Opportunities

The University of Bolton's BA (Hons) Early Years Childhood Studies course will help you gain knowledge and understanding of a range of issues relating to early childhood, families and society. It provides a solid foundation from which you can progress onto professional training such as teaching, nursing and social work. As a graduate, you'll possess key transferable skills such as communication, time management, teamwork, critical analysis, negotiation, problem-solving, and dealing with challenging situations.

What can I do with this qualification?

Our BA (Hons) Early Years and Childhood Studies graduates can enter a wide range of job sectors with an equally wide range of employers, including local authorities, local and national charities, state and independent schools, nurseries and health authorities. The degree is an excellent springboard to roles such as teacher and teaching assistant, nursery practitioner and manager, learning mentor, special educational needs teacher, out-of-school worker, family support worker, and social worker, bearing in mind that some of these roles require postgraduate study or relevant experience.

BA (Hons) Early Years and Childhood Studies graduates often progress to postgraduate study leading to professional statuses such as teaching and social work. The most popular options are the postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) and early years teacher (EYT), so many graduates go on to work as primary or secondary school, early years or special needs teachers.

As a graduate of this course, you'll be able to apply for postgraduate courses in teacher education and other related fields, as well as employment opportunities in the field of education, such as family support workers, teaching assistants and learning mentors. Whilst the course does not lead directly to Qualified Teacher Status, it does allow access to career pathways that require a full honours degree.

Previous graduates have taken up posts through Schools Direct and progressed onto postgraduate courses in teacher education and other related fields. Successfully completing this top-up course can support your career advancement in education and professional development or support your application to postgraduate study, including PGCE and other professional master's programmes.

Alternative career options

Graduates can use this qualification as a stepping stone into a range of other careers. Some of these roles require relevant experience and/or postgraduate study. Possibilities include:

  • Play therapy
  • Counselling
  • Child psychotherapy
  • School liaison
  • Sports and outdoor education
  • Student welfare
  • Nursing
  • Educational psychology
  • Speech and language therapy
  • Community development
  • Consultancy and research
Fees & Funding

Home/EU Fees

Year of study Total
Entry Year 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28
2024-25 £9,250 £9,250 £9,250 - £27,750
2025-26 -

International Fees

Year of study Total
Entry Year 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28
2024-25 £15,950 £15,950 £15,950 - £47,850
2025-26 -

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton students.

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2024-25 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

How to apply

Home Applicants

If you wish to apply for multiple institutions or multiple courses at Bolton for September entry, then apply through UCAS

You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £27. Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's fee of £22.50 is applicable.

The online application form and guidance notes are available on the UCAS website.

You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:

  • Institution Code Name: BOLTN

  • Institution Code Number: B44

UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

Tel: 0870 1122211
Web: www.ucas.com

If you wish to apply for a single course offered by the University of Bolton for any intake, you can apply directly

If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best option for you, you may apply directly to the University using our online application form shown below.

A direct application to Bolton provides the following features:

  • Free of charge to apply

  • Secure, simple and streamlined

  • Contact us directly for any admissions queries

  • Regular updates on your application directly from the University

  • Invites to offer holder events and taster sessions where you can meet your future tutors and get a flavour of university life

NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.

For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS if we accept you on this course. We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.

If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.

Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.

If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select the correct application link from the list below.

Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:

  • Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates

  • Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies

  • Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role

  • Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately

  • Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk

International Applicants

The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world. We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.

This course is not currently accepting international online applications.

Please contact Admissions by telephone on 01204 903903 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom

Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Partner Organisation Applicants

University of Bolton Group Partners

Bolton College
University Collegiate School
Alliance Learning
University of Bolton

For valued members of the University of Bolton Group and progressing students, we try to make our application process as simple and as fast as possible.

If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best option for you, you may apply free of charge to the University. By selecting the appropriate link from the list shown below, you will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance before completing this, and ensure you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your personal statement when you apply.

When you are asked to add a contact email address, please ensure you add your college/university email account address as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact address, we will be unable to identify you as a partner and offer you the benefits of being part of our group.

NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.

For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS if we accept you on this course. We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.

If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.

Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.

If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select the correct application link from the list below.

Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:

  • Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates

  • Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies

  • Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role

  • Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately

  • Details including email addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk

We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!

Teaching & Assessment

Our strategy is student-centred, and we use a blended approach to teaching and learning. You'll have face-to-face sessions, sometimes one-to-one, and participate in online learning.

You can expect a mix of seminars, lectures and tutorials, practical demonstrations, critiques, self-directed study, IT and library sessions and guided study. Group-based activities, such as role-playing exercises, workshops, presentations and discussions of case studies and scenarios from practice, also make up some of the teaching time, and there will be practical skills sessions.

Guest lectures and presentations by various visiting speakers from relevant employment areas offer you the chance to develop your knowledge and understanding further.

The University's e-learning portal Moodle supports your online learning. You can also use Moodle to communicate with fellow students studying the same modules.

Our assessment strategy helps to organise and develop your learning and evaluates your achievement of the learning outcomes. You can expect time-constrained exams and coursework, such as essays, reports, presentations, and portfolios.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

  • Professional and Personal Development
  • Introduction to Child Development
  • Social Policy for Early Years
  • Learning in the Digital Age
  • Facilitating Children's Learning
  • Work Experience
  • Developing Reflective Practice
  • Child Development - 2
  • Safeguarding Children
  • Inclusive Practice
  • Children and Society
  • Creating Positive Learning Experiences for Children
  • Theories and Approaches to Learning in the Early Years
  • Leadership and Management in the Early Years
  • Research Methods
  • Dissertation
  • Developing Children's Health and Wellbeing

Assessment methods

Level Assessment method
Level 1 Coursework 100%
Level 2 Coursework 90%
Written exams 10%
Level 3 Coursework 100%

Learning Activities

Level Activity
Level 1 Guided independent study 69%
Placement/study abroad 11%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 20%
Level 2 Guided independent study 76%
Placement/study abroad 8%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 16%
Level 3 Guided independent study 78%
Placement/study abroad 9%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 13%

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.

Postgraduate Options

Programme Contacts

Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant

Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant