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Early Years

Foundation Degree in Childhood Studies, Care and Education

Start Date: September 2025
Site: College Main Site

Course Overview

The FdA Childhood Studies, Care and Education will equip you with the specialist knowledge and skills needed to support your continued development across a range of Early Years, Education, and Childhood Professions. It is suitable for those working with children under 11yrs and their families, including in Early Years, Primary School, or Family Support provision, to further develop skills to Level 5. The course is a recognised Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) which means it has been reviewed and approved for ensuring learners gain the skills that employers want, and employers can be confident that learners have the knowledge, skills, and behaviours for a particular specialist role.

Level 4 (year 1 for full-time students and the first 1.5 years for part-time students) allows students to develop skills to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of well-established theories, concepts, and historical origins of theory. Students will develop understanding in taking responsibility for personal and professional development, using reflection and feedback to analyse their own capabilities, and be able to implement actions for improvement.

Level 5 (year 2 for full-time students and the second 1.5 years for part-time students) begins the process of being able to work appropriately with a variety of interdisciplinary groups and teams, showing a critical insight in leadership and management skills. Beyond this, students will be able to consistently employ appropriate pedagogical and andragogical approaches to achieve the best outcomes when working with children, professionals, colleagues, parents, and carers.

This course is available on a full-time and a part-time basis and is taught in-person at our Yeovil College campus.

The full-time course is studied over 2 academic years, and students are typically timetabled for one day per week. The part-time course is studied over 3 academic years, and students are typically timetabled for one evening per week.

Work Experience & Industry Placements

It is strongly recommended that students studying this course are undertaking at least 15 hours per week of either paid or voluntary work in an Early Years, Education, or Family Support setting, working with children between 0-11 years. This will allow students the opportunity to successfully link the theories they are studying to their experiences in practice, as well as allowing opportunities for observations to be undertaken.

Qualification Gained

Foundation Degree in Childhood Studies, Care and Education, awarded by the University of Gloucestershire and regulated by the Office for Students.

After The Course

This course would prepare students well to work in a variety of roles across Early Years, Education Support, and Family Support.

On successful completion of the course, students would also be eligible to apply for further study, for example the BA (Hons) Childhood Studies, Care and Education Level 6 programme. This is a route that many students who complete the FdA choose to take, as the BA (Hons) Childhood Studies, Care and Education Level 6 programme opens the doors to a range of graduate positions, or the opportunity to undertake Initial Teacher Training to become an Early Years or Primary School teacher.

Applicants should be aware that this programme alone does not provide Licence to Practice in Early Years Settings; you would need either a suitable L3 qualification or to progress to the BA (Hons) and then on to Early Years Initial Teacher Training to enable full counting into ratio.



What Will I Learn

You will study a range of units that will develop your specialist knowledge and skills. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Modules currently offered include:

Level 4
  • Theories of Thinking and Learning (15 Credits)
  • Documenting Children’s Learning (15 Credits)
  • The Promotion of Personal, Social and Emotional Development through Positive Interactions (15 Credits)
  • Understanding Curriculum Development (30 Credits)
  • Child Development and the Life Course (15 Credits)
  • Personal Academic Development (30 Credits)
Level 5
  • Safeguarding (15 Credits)
  • Introduction to Research (15 Credits)
  • Supporting Additional Needs within Inclusive Practice (30 Credits)
  • Curriculum in Practice (30 Credits)
  • Leadership and Management (15 Credits)
  • Working with Parents (15 Credits)

Alongside developing a range of subject-specific skills, this course also gives you the opportunity to develop important transferable skills such as critical analysis, academic writing, time management, and communication.

Please be aware that modules studied may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, in response to student or stakeholder feedback, or as a result of regulatory body requirements. However, no significant changes to modules would be implemented without student consultation and feedback. Enrolled students can always find the most up-to-date information about their modules and who is teaching them in their course handbook.

Our Lecturers

The course is taught by professionally qualified lecturers who are dedicated to ensuring student success through effective curriculum delivery and high-quality pastoral support. The team includes staff with relevant academic qualifications and sector expertise.

Teaching Learning and Assessment

You are taught through a variety of teaching methods including lectures, visiting speakers and more practical activities. In addition, you have timetabled meetings with your personal tutor.

The modules will be taught one day a week full-time or one evening a week part-time.

Learning will be achieved through a combination of lectures, group activity, independent study, visiting speakers, and more practical activities. In addition, you have timetabled meetings with your personal tutor.

A typical week for a full-time student has around 8 hours of contact time in taught sessions, plus additional 1:1 support available by student request. As with all higher education programmes, students are required to take ownership of their learning and development, and should therefore expect to spend time studying with independence outside of lectures. Time spent studying independently may include reading journal articles and relevant books, undertaking research, and completing assignments by set deadlines.

As a rough guide, between timetabled sessions and independent work a student should expect to spend around 10 hours studying for each credit they undertake. A full-time student will typically undertake 120 credits per academic year.

Part-time students should expect to spend a proportionately reduced amount of time in taught sessions and undertaking independent work, in line with their intensity of study. Part-time students will be timetabled for around 4 hours of contact time in taught sessions each week, and will typically undertake 75 credits in year 1, 75 credits in year 2, and 90 credits in year 3.

Course Expenses

Tuition Fees: Full information on tuition fees, including tuition fee lists, can be found on our Financial Support page. Please be aware that fee levels vary depending upon the year in which a student commences their studies. For more detailed information, see the YCUC (Yeovil College University Centre) HE (Higher Education) Fees Policy, available in the Policies and Reports area of our website.

Additional Costs: There are no required additional costs for the programme. Whilst some students may choose to buy their own copies of certain key texts this is not essential as relevant resources are available through the College's Learning Resources Centre.

How Will I Be Assessed

An assessment schedule, outlining all assessments and deadlines, will be issued to you at the start of each academic year. The course provides you with opportunities to test your understanding of the subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that each module requires. There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. Each module has its own assignment brief and assessment method; you will be assessed using a range of methods which will reflect the requirements of the subject, including essay, report, seminar, presentation, and academic poster. You will receive feedback on all practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback is intended to help you learn and you are encouraged to discuss it with your module tutor.

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements: Typical entry requirements are 48 UCAS tariff points. These could come from a relevant BTEC Level 3 qualification, a relevant T Level, an A Level profile that demonstrates strong performance in relevant subject areas, or other Level 3 qualifications such as an International Baccalaureate or an Access to HE Diploma. Grade 4 (C) or above in GCSE English (or equivalent) is required. Grade 4 (C) or above in GCSE Maths (or equivalent) is highly desirable. We advise students to consider holding GCSE Science (or equivalent) if they intend on pursuing a teaching career as this is often a requirement of initial teacher training programmes, however, applicants should always research entry requirements for future training or careers themselves.

Mature Applicants: We welcome applications from mature students (aged 21 and over as of 1st September in the academic year of admission) and do not necessarily require the same academic qualifications as school leaving applicants. Mature students requesting contextual admission are required to provide details of their relevant prior work or study experience, and to also undertake a pre-entry admissions assessment to ensure there is suitable grounds to suggest they are academically ready to begin the programme and there is a reasonable expectation that they will succeed in their studies. Please email university.centre@yeovil.ac.uk to find out more.

International Applicants: International applicants will be required to evidence English language skills - this could be an IELTS score of 6.0, with a minimum score of 5.5 in each component, a grade 4 in GCSE English (or equivalent), or having recently completed a Level 3 qualification taught and assessed in the English language. For more information, please get in touch via university.centre@yeovil.ac.uk or call 01935 845454.

Interviews: As part of the admissions process, applicants who meet the entry criteria for the course will be invited to attend an admissions interview with a member of staff from the course they are applying to. More information about the interview process can be found on the How to apply page.

How To Apply

Full-time: To apply for this course on a full-time basis, you will need to apply via UCAS (Campus name: Yeovil College University Centre; Institution code: Y25; Course code: 51LK). For more information on UCAS and how the application process works, see our How to apply page.

Part-time: To apply for this course on a part-time basis, you will need to submit an application form directly to the University Centre. You can find out more about this process and download a copy of the application form by visiting our How to apply page, or you can request a copy of the application form directly from the Yeovil College University Centre team via 01935 845454 or university.centre@yeovil.ac.uk.

If you have any questions, or want to know more about this course, please get in touch! You can contact us via email (university.centre@yeovil.ac.uk), phone (01935 845454), or you can fill out our Contact form.