The course is professionally endorsed by Education Training Standards (ETS) Wales and recognised by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) for Youth & Community Workers.
The course is designed for youth and community workers who wish to extend their understanding, skills and competence as informal educators and gain a nationally recognised professional qualification in youth and community work.
All our lectures are undertaken in small cohorts (usually no more than 35 students) and delivered by qualified staff who have significant experience in youth and community work. Students are on placement throughout the course in a wide variety of youth and community settings.
Youth and community workers play a central role in todays society, working in a wide range of formal and informal educational settings, supporting individuals personal and social development and enabling them to realise their potential.
This course helps students to develop their critical faculties, giving them a deeper understanding of social inclusion, empowerment and the nature of society, allowing them to develop skills that will enable them to engage effectively in a key role in the community.
Course information on this page relates to 2022 entry.
The course content is split between fieldwork placements (40%) in a wide range of community and/or youth work agencies and university-based, lecture study (60%). Lectures and tutorials / fieldwork placements are modular in structure with an emphasis on the application of theory to practice. Although students undertake self-study there is also an emphasis on group work throughout the programme. Learner guidance is generally available from Professional (personal) and Module Tutors and Fieldwork Facilitators (in the workplace).
All students have access to a Professional (personal) Tutor throughout the course as well as a Dissertation Tutor at Level 6. The Professional Tutor facilitates the weekly group tutorials, provides support to students on placement and is available for individual tutorials. Fieldwork Facilitators take on the role of supporting students on placement by holding regular supervision sessions with the student and observe them, on at least two occasions, using a format to encourage reflection and critical analysis.
The teaching and learning strategies used on the programme have evolved over time. The use of group tutorials to enquire into and promote critical reflection on practice has proved to be an important and valuable component of the programme, while the taught modules have tended to draw upon the experience of practitioners to breathe life into the concepts and theories being examined. The learning and teaching opportunities in the workplace are crucial to the students development and, as such, the role of the Fieldwork Facilitator is a major factor in helping to secure that learning.
Moodle is used to support learning at all levels of study. In addition, students have access to an array of innovative and comprehensive e-learning packages developed by the Academic Skills Unit and a vast library of books and journals (including e-copies), available from Library Services.