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Early Childhood Studies

Entry requirements


UCAS Tariff

96

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Early years education

Are you interested in working with young children in a Nursery or Early Years setting? Then our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies degree at Birmingham Newman University is registered with the DfE as having ‘full and relevant status’, which is particularly advantageous to graduates employed in early years settings, in counting towards the staff:child ratios.

Early childhood, the quality of education, provision and care, and the roles and responsibilities of all those involved with young children, parents and families, all have a significant influence on children’s achievement and life chances. The last decade has seen the wider development of early years provision, changes and challenges in aspects of education and care, and the recognition that early childhood and children’s experiences must be supported by a highly qualified workforce. Government legislation, policy and research have raised the profile of early childhood, education and care and established the requirement for recognised professional qualifications for all those working in the field of early years in public, voluntary and private sectors.

The programme is specifically designed for students interested in working with young children. It offers a course that provides breadth and depth in key aspects relating to childhood, child development, education and care but also integrates a wider thematic approach which includes families, communities, multi-agency working, social policy, inclusion and diversity, research and health. It will develop your knowledge, skills, understanding of these, and your generic transferable skills through course content, learning and teaching strategies, assessment, research, and experiences of early years settings and organisations.

The first year of the programme introduces aspects of child development, social policy, equality, rights and diversity, constructs of childhood, families and learning. During the second year there is a work based placement which enables you to gain valuable experience working in an early years setting with children 0-5. The placement experience has proved significant for students’ future career choices. There are also opportunities for international placements.

The course has optional modules at Intermediate and Honours level that enables students to undertake a particular theme, for example, Creativity, Education, Leadership and Management and Health. In the final year of studies you will carry out a small scale research study for your dissertation.

Modules

Please see the Birmingham Newman University website for details.

Assessment methods

Please see the Birmingham Newman University website for details.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Birmingham Newman University

Department:

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

86%
Early years education

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Education

Teaching and learning

76%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
78%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

81%
Library resources
86%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
67%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
1%
Male students
99%
Female students
62%
2:1 or above
16%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
E
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Education

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£15,600
low
Average annual salary
95%
low
Employed or in further education
52%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

43%
Childcare and related personal services
15%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Teaching and educational professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Education

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£22k

£22k

£25k

£25k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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