What makes Early Years at Worcester special?

The Early Years (0-8) Foundation Degree is a new and innovative course for people who are working, or who aspire to work, in the Early Years sector. The course is designed to fit around your needs, offering face to face session on a weekly basis whilst developing your skills in practice. If this sounds appealing, then this course could be for you.

Throughout the degree, you will be offered the opportunity to develop the appropriate professional attributes, knowledge and understanding required for the care and education of children within national and international contexts. This interconnected approach is reflected in a range of assignments designed to encourage you to consider a variety of perspectives and the development of critical skills in relation to theory applied to practice.

Pathway Options

This foundation degree is designed to be flexible, dependent on your career aspirations and you are given a choice of pathways:

• Early Years (0-8) (Professional Practice) pathway. This pathway has ‘Full and Relevant’ status with the DfE and allows you to meet the Early Years Educator (EYE) standards and achieve ‘Full and Relevant’ status by the end of your course. This is important to employers as it lets them count you in EYFS staff:child ratios at level 3.
• Early Years (0-8) pathway. This is the best pathway for those who already have a ‘Full and Relevant’ level 3 qualification. It enables you to further develop your professional practice within early years or to progress to a teaching career.

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements

32 UCAS Tariff points

• Minimum of four GCSEs at Grade C/4 or above
• Evidence of Level 2 Literacy and Numeracy, for example key skills at Level 2 or GCSE English Language and Maths at Grade C/4 or above on entry to the programme is desirable.  Where a student does not already hold a level 2 in English and/or Maths qualification, they must present evidence of this before the end of Level 4 to remain on a FdA EY (0-8) (Professional Practice) pathway to achieve the ‘full and relevant’ status.
• Acceptable qualifications include a minimum of 1 A Level or an equivalent Level 3 qualification, for example the CACHE Diploma or EdExcel BTEC National Diploma in Children’s Care, Learning and Development

NB For the Early Years (0-8) pathway, if you do not have evidence of Literacy at Level 2, it will be necessary to complete a non-standard entry essay to demonstrate competence in written English

Through our non-standard entry route, we welcome applications from experienced and mature practitioners who do not have the above qualifications

Further information can be obtained by contacting the Admissions Office on 01905 855111

What will you Study?

Year 1:

• The Developing Child
• Health and Wellbeing
• Playful Pedagogy
• Introduction to Work-Based Learning or Theory for Early Years Educator Foundation Graduate

Year 2:

• Childhood, a Global Perspective
• Policy into Practice
• Safeguarding Children’s Welfare in the Early years and Integrating Our Work with Other Agencies
• Small Scale Practice-Based Enquiry and Future Progression or Early Educator Small Scale Practice-Based Enquiry

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course.

How much will it cost?

UK and EU students

The standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £16,200 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional Costs

Students must have a current Enhanced DBS to be able to work in practice. The cost and process of an application can be found on the government website. Students will need to apply for a new one if they are not already signed up to the DBS update service.

Every course has day-to-day costs for essential books, stationery, printing and photocopying.

Travel costs for placements vary depending on the location of school or setting and your mode of transport.

Travel costs may be incurred for partnership students attending induction and the annual conference at the University.

Finance

All eligible students should be entitled to a student loan to cover the cost of their fees. Find out more about student finance.