BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies at University of East London

Do you want to help shape and change young lives through education? Do you have a passion for teaching? Do you want to change communities from the inside? If you're interested in learning more about children and childhood and you envisage a career working with and for children and their families, this course will give you an excellent foundation.

The foundation year  course is perfect if you want a degree in Early Childhood Studies, Special Needs and Education Studies but you don't have the standard entry requirements for direct entry to one of these programmes.  It is stimulating and designed with you in mind.  We do believe that each student is unique and that you come to us with a wealth of experiences which can be transferrable during your studies. 

Both of our course options will give you a fascinating insight into the way children experience their childhoods and how that experience influences them as they develop. You'll look at childhood from a range of different critical perspectives and explore the factors that influence the childhood experience. You'll examine issues such as health, early-years legislation and global inequalities in childhood.

You'll have the opportunity to work on projects in the local community, applying your developing knowledge by devising practical solutions to real-life problems.

Early childhood is a well-established and popular area of study at UEL. Our academic team come from a broad range of professional backgrounds and cultures and, together, they have more than 100 years of experience in the field. Early Childhood Studies is available online.

This makes it easy to fit around parenting or work. You'll study using our virtual learning environment, Moodle, which includes chatrooms, reading materials, lecture clips and assignments.

Early Childhood Studies introduces you to a range of perspectives on early childhood development and learning across a variety of contexts, offering a theoretical understanding of issues and controversies within the early childhood field.

Applicants wishing to work as a practitioner in an early years setting will be required to have a level 3 practitioner qualification in addition to their academic degree once they graduate. Students move into a variety of careers and onward study in social work, education and children's services.

You'll come to understand that there are many different ways of understanding early childhood. We give you a range of academic and professional perspectives on childhood, then ask you to explore the deeper philosophies, beliefs and attitudes that underpin them.

You'll learn how children develop, from conception onwards, how they experience life and how that experience forms the basis of their later development.

You'll develop an understanding of the factors that influence childhood, and of how this knowledge is critical in supporting the learning and development of children. 

We'll teach you about how early years services are structured in this country, and how to work across the system to get the best results for children. 

You'll also benefit from field-based learning as you carry out the third-year research project which you'll devise yourself.