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Career Development and Employability MA

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

This course is eligible for Master's loan funding. Find out more.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. You could gain a professional qualification in Career Guidance, alongside your Master's.
  2. Prepare yourself for a rewarding career in higher education, further education, secondary education or the 3rd sector.
  3. Build your practical skills through a wide range of work placement opportunities.

This practical course will allow you the opportunity to get the Qualification in Career Development (QCD) - the nationally recognised professional qualification awarded by the Career Development Institute (CDI) - alongside your Master's qualification. You'll learn about policy, practice and theories underpinning career guidance, equality and diversity, partnership working and research-based practice.

You will also learn how to employ independent learning strategies that will enable you deepen your knowledge and understanding of educational research while also developing your professional practice.

Why Career Development and Employability?

  • Having taught career guidance courses for over 40 years, we have established a strong national reputation in the sector. You'll have access to our extensive professional and academic network which feeds directly into course design and delivery and to our excellent facilities and specialist equipment.
  • If you’re looking to gain additional knowledge but cannot commit to the full-time one-year MA, you may choose the two years part-time route, or study the Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) which also leads to the award of the QCD (the Qualification in Career Development).
  • This course can lead to a wide variety of interesting and rewarding career prospects in the career guidance and development sector including higher and further education careers and employability services, secondary education and third-sector organisations. You can find out more via the CDI.

Course detail

Whether you choose to study full-time or part-time, you will study the following core modules:

Developing Professional Practice: Organisational Culture and Professional Practice

This module examines approaches to professional practice in a range of contexts. It considers the nature of the organisation within which your practice is located. You will develop practical skills and knowledge, using theoretical justification for a range of practices. Issues such as safeguarding, guidance policy and working within a formal educational setting will be considered. Learning in the workplace will focus on your own learning contract and your progress against it.

The Guidance Network

This module will help you to examine the networks and contexts in which guidance work is carried out. You'll address underpinning theories of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG), how these tie in with models of one to one and group interaction and how guidance is addressed in various learning settings.

Critical Literature Review

This module develops and deepens your knowledge and understanding of historical and contemporary research within the Career Guidance sector. The assessment for this module is for you to identify a work related or contemporary issue related to the Career Guidance sector. You will produce a critical literature review which outlines the research into your chosen topic. You will critically evaluate the research and identify any gaps in knowledge or scope for further research.

Professional Research Project

This module will help you design and develop a piece of individual research or a professional project into a current work-related or contemporary issue related the Career Guidance sector You will draw upon a relevant literature review and select and explain an appropriate research design and technique. You will interpret and evaluate the findings and report them in such a way as to encourage dissemination.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

  • A degree or an equivalent professional qualification. Suitably experienced applicants without a degree will be considered.

In addition you must also have:

  • Relevant experience in a paid or voluntary basis.
  • Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and health clearances.
  • Complete a satisfactory interview.
  • International applicants must be available for interview in person or via Skype.

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 6.5 overall with no element lower than 6.0, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

Placements


Our students gain practical skills working with both adults and young people in the wide range of settings where career guidance is practiced, such as workplaces, the voluntary sector, higher and further education careers services, secondary education and the National Careers Service. Typically, our students undertake compulsory work placement consisting of a minimum of 30 days arming themselves with a wide-ranging experience of information, advice and guidance provision.

Staff Profiles

Your career


Guidance skills can be used in a variety of settings and graduates can expect to find employment in dedicated guidance or careers guidance agencies such as the National Careers Service or Higher and Further Education Careers and Employability Services. Graduates in recent years have also found employment in related areas such as voluntary and charitable agencies (e.g. mental health provision), secondary education and training providers.

*98.4% of our postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating

98.4% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

A wide range of resources are also offered within the School of Education and Professional Development, which you would be a part of should you decide to study this course. The school provides you with support in a variety of areas, these include:

  • Student Support Office (iPoint): a one-stop-shop for students, studying within the School. Here you can get help and advice, including checking your timetable, finding a tutor, handing in assessments. We can also refer you to other departments within the University such as, student finance, student services etc.
  • Academic Skills Tutor: provides guidance about how you can develop your academic skills in order to improve your grades. We provide support with general academic skills including essay writing, time management, presentations and group work skills; information technology and numeracy; research skills, as well as personal development for example confidence building and assertiveness.
  • Student Support Officer: provides confidential and impartial advice on welfare and course related issues.
  • Placements, Employability and Partnerships A significant part of your learning takes place whilst on placement.To help you get the best possible experience we operate an extensive professional network giving you the opportunity to access a wide range of high quality placement providers.

Our professional network includes links with local authorities, schools, colleges, early years settings, voluntary organisations, youth services and youth offending teams to offer you real-life experience whilst you study. Our placements team offer you help to find your placement and support you through it.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.