Early Childhood Education and Care BA(Hons)

University of Huddersfield

United Kingdom, Huddersfield

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Home/United Kingdom/Huddersfield /University of Huddersfield/Early Childhood Education and Care BA(Hons)

University of Huddersfield

United Kingdom , Huddersfield

Key Facts

Program Level

Bachelor

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Course Code

D945

Campuses

Main Site

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake Deadlines22-Sep-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 3 year(s)

Tuition Fee

GBP 16,500 / year

Next Intake 22-Sep-2026

Early Childhood Education and Care BA(Hons)

About

About the course

Reasons to study

This course can boost your career prospects. Career options are wide and varied; past graduates are now employed as primary and early years teachers, early years practitioners, family support or early help practitioners, and community NHS practitioners.
You'll have the opportunity to undertake work placements. Work placements within early years and primary school settings provide real-world experience and hands-on learning opportunities, enhancing your CV and preparing you for professional roles.
You can make a lasting impact on the lives of children and families. By supporting children during their most critical years, you'll help shape their future development and ensure they have the best possible start in life—a difference that truly lasts a lifetime.

Giving you a grounding in child development and early education, our Early Childhood Education and Care.

After all, events and the environment which make up a child’s early years can have a lasting impact on their development; it’s important, therefore, that children have the best possible start in life.

Why study Early Childhood Education and Care BA(Hons)

You’ll explore key issues that impact children’s lives. Focusing on birth to seven years old, you’ll look at:

child development
holistic and reflective practice
education and care
health and wellbeing
safeguarding
the impact of society on children’s learning and welfare.

Work placements form a key part of the course, with your placement giving you the chance to gain real, practical experience in a professional environment. You’ll undertake 240 hours in year 1 and 216 hours in year 2.  

These practical experiences, combined with your academic studies, will help you develop the skills that employers are looking for; some of our past students are now employed as primary and early years teachers, early years practitioners, social care, or NHS workers. Others are employed in special educational needs support, as teaching assistants, learning mentors and in early training services roles.

During this early childhood course, you’ll have the option to be assessed against the Graduate Practitioner Competencies (GPCs) of the Early Childhood Studies Degree Network (ECSDN). Successful demonstration of these competencies will mean you’ll be awarded Graduate Practitioner Status (GPS) alongside your degree. Gaining GPCs could increase your career prospects when looking for employment in the education and care of young children.

You might decide to further your education, developing more skills as an early years practitioner by enhancing your early years studies and boosting your confidence. You could enrol onto a postgraduate degree, for instance, before heading into the world of work.

This course offers a great starting point for a range of career opportunities too.

The Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) BA (Hons) is the course for you, if you are an aspiring early years specialist and passionate about working with young children and their families. On completion of the ECEC degree, graduates have the skills and knowledge needed to enter a profession where they become advocates for children and where they understand and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in their work with families. The course will enable you to gain essential experience and skills through work placement opportunities in relevant early years/early childhood settings

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements

BBC-BCCat A Level or equivalent.

112-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications.

Merit at T Level.

DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma, D*D* BTEC National Diploma or CACHE Diploma grade B relevant to working with children.

Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
112-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

In addition you must also:

Have GCSE English Language at grade 4 or above and GCSE Maths (or equivalent) at grade 4 or above, (or grade C or above if awarded under the previous GCSE grading scheme).

Provide a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and health clearances.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

English Program Requirements

English language requirements

The University’s normal entry criteria apply to all international students. For details of country-specific entry requirements please visit your home country page on our website.

The University has formal requirements for all applicants. These are normally English Language qualifications which we recognise as meeting our entry criteria. Requirements may vary between programmes, and you are advised to check these carefully when going through course listings.

The following table sets out the main qualifications we recognise and the levels that are normally required for admission. It is intended as general guidance only - the offer of a place, if it includes an English Language condition, will specify the level of English that you are required to meet.

The University of Huddersfield is pleased to accept a Pass in all four elements at the Proficiency Level of the Ascentis Anglia ESOL Language qualification as meeting the University’s English Language requirements for students from the EU.

If you don’t yet meet these requirements, don’t worry as we have an extensive Pre-Sessional English Programme(PSP) on campus.

Test	Standard required score	Validity
Cambridge English Advanced	Grade C	No expiry
IELTS (Academic)	6.0 with no lower than 5.5 in any element.	2 years
Pearson Test of Academic English (PTE)	Listening – 51 Reading – 51 Writing – 51 Speaking - 51	2 years
GCSE or GCE ‘O’ level	Grade C	No expiry
International Baccalaureate	Must have completed the Diploma with English at Higher Level	No expiry

Applicants from any of the following Majority English Speaking Countries (MESCs) will normally be considered to have met our English requirements:

Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
New Zealand
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States of America

Please note that we will not normally waive the English Language requirement for speakers of other languages who have completed a programme of study taught in English in their home countries.

Career

Your career

This course will enable you to consider a varied range of careers and you will be able to use your transferable professional skills such as: organisational, leadership, teamwork, communication, record keeping, report writing to work in a professional capacity, while keeping children and young people safe and promoting their health and well-being.

The course can lead to future careers in early years practice, teaching assistant, teaching, social work, family support, educational pastoral support, SEN teacher, SEN support, training consultant, early years marketing, speech and language assistant, health visitor assistant,â¯nanny, childminder, please notes they may be further study required at post graduate level for some career options. The degree will also be useful if you are pursuing roles in early years settings (including childminders), Children's Centres, community hubs, schools, Local authority, training organisations, FE teaching and typical employers include - early years settings (including childminders), Children's Centres, community hubs, schools, local authorities, training organisations, FE colleges.

You may also want to undertake further study to boost your career prospects through post graduate study, this would apply if you were intending to work in teaching (PGCE), speech and language, social work, disability nursing, children's nursing,â¯play therapist, educational psychologist. There are different master’s degrees in childhood and early years practice and where a specialism is the focus such as Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Opportunities to be a research assistant, study for a PHD/Doctorate or be enterprising and set up own business may also be available.

* Percentage of graduates from this subject who are in work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2020/21, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

80-95% Graduates employed*