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Early Childhood Education and Care BA(Hons)

2025-26

Undergraduate Open Days
Undergraduate Open Days

Start date

22 September 2025

Duration

3 years full-time

Entry requirements

A Level - BBC-BCC

BTEC - DMM-MMM

See full entry requirements

Places available (subject to change)

50

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. 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.
  2. Work placements within early years and primary school settings can give you the chance to gain real-world experience and CV-enhancing, hands-on learning opportunities.
  3. You’ll have the opportunity to gain Graduate Practitioner Competency Status (GPCs) alongside your degree. This highlights your understanding of early childhood development and your ability to apply, critically evaluate and link theory to practice. The GPCs are recognised in the sector as a graduate practitioner.

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.

Course detail

Core modules:

Theories and Strategies for Learning

This module introduces you to a variety of key skills intended to support your transition into higher education. The module encourages the development of academic study and communication skills necessary for success on your course along with academic tenacity and resilience. It encourages you to harness your organisation skills, have aspirations and develop self-efficacy.

Perspectives in Learning and Development

This module introduces significant theories and research which underpin development and learning for children, young people and adults. It considers a range of key concepts to explain the basis of development and learning. It identifies the different dimensions of development (cognitive, linguistic, social, moral) and locates these aspects of development in their cultural and social context and in an international context. It focuses on different transitions that children and young people must make as they develop into adulthood and introduces students to different perspectives on the processes involved in learning and development.

Professional Practice 1

On this module you'll be introduced to practice in supporting young children's development. You'll develop a holistic approach to enhancing your own professionalism and practice. Assessment typically involves a written case study detailing an individual child's learning and development. Students will be required to complete a placement with 0-7 year olds.

Self, Society and Welfare

This module develops your understanding of society. Firstly, it examines social policy issues in society, such as poverty and inequality, and how the state responds to them through ‘welfare’, as well as through ‘rights’ and ‘citizenship’. You will then investigate the formation of identity and social differentiation by examining key sociological concepts such as social class, gender, the family, ethnic identity and disability.

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.

Real-world experience


Sally Booth, Early Years BA(Hons)

Sally studied Early Year BA(Hons). Find out how her placement at Scholes Junior and Infants School helped to develop her experience and skills whilst she studied.

Placements


Placement experience is highly regarded by employers and enables you to understand practice alongside experienced mentors and practitioners. Placements are a key part of the course and are managed and supported by an experienced team of tutors, who work closely with mentors in the placement settings.

You will undertake 240 hours in a work placement in Year 1 and 216 hours in Year 2. There will be opportunities to work with children 0-7 and this will be in the Private, Voluntary, Independent (PVI) and school settings, so that you gain experience in planning and observing children, learning how to enhance the environment to support children's development and learning.

The assessment for placements in the first two years is mapped to the Graduate Practitioner Competencies (GPC), alongside your outcomes in the two Professional Practice modules. If you successfully meet all criteria you will be given the opportunity to do a further placement in Year 3. This involves 125 hours working with children aged from birth to seven. Students who complete placements in all three years of the course will have the opportunity to evidence the assessed practice requirements for gaining Graduate Practitioner Status (GPS) alongside their degree.

Everyone was so welcoming and pushed me to develop as a future professional. I learnt how to lead my own practice and follow my instincts; and it was not long before I had gained valuable relationships with the staff and the children. It was definitely my home from home.

Paul Baker

Abbie Fletcher, graduated from Early Years BA(Hons) in 2017, completed a placement at Bridgend House Nursery in Brighouse.

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, 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, 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*

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.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

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. 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. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If 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

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 an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. 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 non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes 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), 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 or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. 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, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. 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.

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 in accordance with the student protection plan.

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

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