Our purpose built early years classroom
Education (Early Years) BA(Hons)
Start Dates
21 September 2026, 28 September 2026
Duration
4 years part-time
UCAS Tariff
112
Overview
Why choose Huddersfield for this course?
- Explore key early childhood issues including health, wellbeing, safeguarding and inclusive practice.
- Develop practical skills to work with children and families and collaborate with parents and professionals.
- Learn flexibly with Saturday sessions and apply theory in your workplace for real-world impact.
Current government reforms in education are focused on early childhood development and the importance of high-quality early years provision in providing the foundations that prepare young children for the best start in life. So, if you’re currently an early years practitioner, aspiring to develop high quality practice and are passionate about working with children and their families, then this course could be for you.
Why Education (Early Years)?
- You’ll have the opportunity to explore a variety of issues in relation to children and early childhood, including health and wellbeing, education, learning and development and to look at wider topics such as safeguarding, society and early years practice. We’ll help you develop as a reflective, evidence-based practitioner.
- We’ll ensure you develop the essential practical and professional skills to work with children and families in the early years, including the ability to work collaboratively with parents, colleagues and other professionals. You’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to equality of opportunity and inclusive, anti-discriminatory practice.
- Your place of work forms a key element of the course allowing you to put theory into practice. To ensure flexibility and access for those working within schools and other childcare settings during the week, teaching on this course typically takes place on Saturdays, approximately 8 per academic year.
- You’ll be taught by an outstanding team of teachers. You’ll also have access to our extensive professional and academic network which feeds directly into course design and delivery and to excellent facilities and specialist equipment.
- 95% of graduates from Education and Early Years BA(Hons) are in work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduation (HESA Graduate Outcomes 21/22. UK Domicilied).
Career opportunities after the course *
Nursery Practitioners
Early Years Practitioners
Early Years Teachers
Nursery Managers
Nursery Assistants
*Lightcast
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points from a combination of A Levels or Level 3 qualifications in Early Childhood, Learning Support or a related educational area.
- Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
- Merit at T Level
- 112 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.
If you already have a level 4 or higher qualification such as NVQ level 4 or 5 or Foundation Degree relating to the course you will be considered for entry directly into Year 2 or above.
In addition you must also:
- Have GCSE English Language at grade 4 or above (grade C or above if awarded under the previous GCSE grading scheme), or equivalent.
- Be in employment or voluntary work in an appropriate registered setting (for a minimum of 120 hours per year) and have support from your employer.
You must also demonstrate during interview that you have sufficient general academic skills to be able to undertake the course.
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.
Course Details
Teaching and Assessment
Discover what to expect from your tutor contact time, assessment methods, and feedback process.
Your Career
This course is designed to support your progression in to more senior roles in early years education. Studying this course could enable you to consider a varied range of careers in education, including teaching, early years professional and learning support roles.
86.5%
86.5% of undergraduate graduates from the School of Business, Education and Law in work or further study within fifteen months of graduating
* HESA Graduate Outcomes 2021/22, UK domiciled graduates, other activities excluded
Education is so broad—you learn about children from diverse backgrounds and see how society’s norms shape families. It opened my eyes to how privilege impacts opportunities and inspired me to think about challenging inequalities so everyone can succeed.
- Ainaa Imran
Second Year, Childhood Student.
Fees and Finance
This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.
Modules credits can range from 15 to 60, dependent on the content of the module. Read more about total credits required for a range of degrees, to allow you to calculate the potential total cost.
Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy.
From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).
For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/study/fees/
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required to enable you to undertake placements in settings with children. We arrange this as part of the application process. Please note that there may be a charge for the DBS check.
Scholarships and Bursaries
Discover what additional help you may be eligible for to support your University studies.
Tuition Fee Loans
Find out more about tuition fee loans available to eligible undergraduate students.
What’s included in your fee?
We want you to understand exactly what your fees will cover and what additional costs you may need to budget for when you decide to become a student with us.
If you have any questions about Fees and Finance, please email the Student Finance Team.
Gallery
Take a look at the Charles Sikes and Richard Steinitz Buildings, where your lectures and seminars will take place.
Charles Sikes Building Exterior
Dimond Jubilee Lecture Theatre in the Charles Sike
Richard Steinitz Building Exterior
The Street in the Charles Sikes Building
Seminar room
Experience real scenarios in our specialist classr
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Why Hud
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Explore Huddersfield
Make Huddersfield your home. A Yorkshire town, surrounded by beautiful countryside, with easy access to neighbouring cities; Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. You’ll find plenty of places to eat, drink, shop and socialise, there’s ambitious plans for future development. Our campus is situated next to the town centre - making your commute a breeze.
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Your Student Experience
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Huddersfield is not only one of the friendliest towns, it also offers you a lower cost of living than most big cities. This means you could have more money to spend, making your uni experience even better. On campus you’ll also find plenty of facilities and services to help you budget and make your money go further.
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Careers support
We know you’re coming to university to study on your chosen subject, meet new people and broaden your horizons. However, we also help you to focus on life after you have graduated to ensure that your hard work pays off and you achieve your ambition.
Find out more about careers supportStudent 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.
See our support servicesTeaching Excellence
Great teaching is engaging and inspiring — it helps you reach your full potential and prepares you for the future. We don’t just teach well — we excel — and we have the awards and recognition to prove it.
Find out moreInspiring Academics
Our researchers carry out world-leading work that makes a real difference to people’s lives. Staff within the School of Education may teach you on this course.
Find out more about our staffResearch Excellence
You’ll be taught by staff who want to support your learning and share the latest knowledge and research.
Find out moreAccommodation
Looking for student accommodation? Huddersfield has you covered. HudLets has a variety of accommodation types to choose from, no matter what your preference. HudLets is the University’s approved accommodation service, run by Huddersfield Students’ Union.
Take a look at your optionsFurther Study
If you want to continue your learning beyond your undergraduate degree, there is a range of financial support available for postgraduate study, including discounts for Huddersfield graduates.
Discover postgraduate coursesLegal information
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 if you are unhappy with the change 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 being unable to teach due to illness, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to pandemics, other disasters (such as fire, flood or war) or changes made by the government.
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 consult with affected groups of students and any changes would only be made in accordance with our regulations. 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 let us know before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for any additional tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so and you may be eligible for an exit award depending on how far through your course you are.
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.