Early Childhood Studies (Top-Up)

If you’d like to make a genuine and lasting difference to children’s lives, our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies (Top-Up) is an excellent foundation for vital roles in health, education and social care.

• Explore how children learn and develop from birth to eight years, building professional skills and knowledge to meet their needs
• The opportunities to focus on modules specific to your Personal interests and careers aspirations (subject to demand)
• Benefit from the expertise of a multi-disciplinary academic team who will ensure your learning is relevant, up to date and research informed
• If you complete this course and meet the entry requirements for PGCE Primary, we will guarantee you an interview - see below for full details.

There can be few more rewarding professions than working with young children, helping them to reach important milestones and to develop skills that will last a lifetime. Our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies degree (Top-Up) is your first step to a successful and worthwhile future.

What is a Top-Up Degree?

A Top-Up Bachelor's degree enables you to top up your level 4 or 5 qualifications to a full level 6 Bachelor's degree.

Top-up degrees may recognise academic qualifications combined with other previous certificates or relevant experience. A Top-up degree allows you to top up your previous studies and experience to achieve a full Bachelor’s degree with Honours, giving you access to postgraduate programmes and helping to positively impact your career.

Explore how children develop

You’ll gain a thorough understanding of early childhood from birth to eight years, exploring how children develop, learn and think. You’ll look at the importance of early childhood from a broad range of perspectives.

Our focus throughout is on identifying and meeting children’s holistic needs, so you’ll consider all the challenges and opportunities faced by early years professionals working in a variety of children’s services.

Be inspired by leading experts

Our course is delivered by a highly experienced team, including influential researchers and published authors. It means your course is shaped by the latest thinking and innovative ideas which are changing the face of early childhood studies.

Our staff have conducted important studies into a wide range of subjects, from creativity for early years professionals to social constructions of childhood, from the pressures faced by new parents to ways of engaging fathers in early years settings.

You may even take part in fascinating research initiatives yourself. Our students have, for instance, worked within local Family Hubs to promote inclusive approaches to engaging children and families, led by a research focused approach.

Our annual conferences also give you the chance to share findings from your own projects with an audience of fellow students and practitioners.

A vibrant learning experience

We pride ourselves on offering a friendly, welcoming learning environment where you will receive plenty of encouragement and guidance. Our tutors are approachable, dedicated and passionate about their subjects.

You’ll learn in our Kirtley Building which offers first-rate facilities for our Education and Childhood Studies students. It includes specially designed collaborative learning spaces and a large hall for practical activities and observing learning in action.

Students will also learn off site which includes opportunities to learn off site e.g. forest school sessions and fieldtrips to places such as the Museum of Childhood, Think Tank Museum and Eureka Children’s Museum.

Flexibility and choice

We offer a variety of optional modules at Stage 3 so that you can tailor your studies to match your personal interests and career aspirations. These could cover themes such as Creative Pedagogies, Children in Transition, Children’s Rights and Health and Inequalities. Optional modules are subject to demand and reviewed regularly on that basis.

Professional credibility

If you do not already hold a practical qualification relating to the field, our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies Top-Up course enables you to gain practitioner recognition via assessment against the Graduate Practitioner Competencies. Please note, to gain a professional status at level 6, you will need to hold a GCSE or Functional Skills qualification at grade C/4 or above in English and Maths by the completion of your studies. If this is not the case, we can provide funded options to undertake these, alongside your studies.

Graduate Practitioner Competencies (GPCs)

The University of Derby offers graduate level practitioner competencies for students studying BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies from Stage 2 or 3 of the degree.

The competencies have been developed by members of the Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network (ECSDN) in consultation with students and employers, with an aim of ‘strengthening a graduate-led Early Childhood workforce that is responsive to workforce needs and improves outcomes for children’ (ECSDN, 2018). 

Students that achieve the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner competencies will meet the nine competencies through assessed observations of practice, practice-based tasks and academic assessment.

The Early Childhood Graduate Competencies are:

• Advocating for young children’s rights and participation
• Promote holistic child development
• Work directly with young children, families and colleagues to promote health, well-being, safety and nurturing care
• Observe, listen and plan for young children to support their well-being, early learning, progression and transitions
• Safeguarding and child protection
• Inclusive practice
• Partnership with parents and caregivers
• Collaborating with others
• Professional development

You’ll have a conversation with your personal tutor when you start your studies to decide whether you are eligible to complete a practice based route.

Information about the GPCs and assessed placements can be found on the Early Childhood Studies Degree Network (ECSDN) website.

It means that your qualification will be well regarded by prospective employers – and this is reflected in our strong track record for enhancing students’ career prospects. Latest statistics show that 98.2% of our Early Childhood Studies graduates were in employment or further study within six months of completing the course. 

You have the opportunity to achieve extra qualifications as part of your studies, such as the British Red Cross Paediatric First Aid certificate which is an important asset for employers. 

Guaranteed interviews for our PGCE Primary

If you complete this degree and meet the entry requirements for our PGCE Primary, we will guarantee you an interview during your final year of undergraduate study (subject to places being available). 

Places on our PGCE are highly sought after, so we recommend you apply as early as possible once UCAS opens.

Terms and conditions:

• There are a limited number of places on the PGCE Primary. Once the course is full, applications will close and no further interviews will be held
• Interviews are guaranteed for students who meet the entry requirements for the PGCE Primary, including GCSE grades, degree classification, experience and successful completion of the Skills Tests
• An interview does not guarantee an offer to study on the course
   

More about Carrie Ann's experience and career so far:

"I began my career as a Family Domestic Abuse practitioner, providing direct support to parents and children who have experienced domestic abuse. I developed and delivered programmes for parents focusing on the impact of domestic abuse on themselves and their children and strategies for recovery. Additionally, I wrote and facilitated an 8-week group programme for children, which included things such as police attending, to build positive relationships with the children, due to their lived experiences and the police involvement they may have experienced during domestic abuse incidents."

Explore Early Childhood Studies at Derby

Take a look at the video below to hear from the teaching team, learn about the type of placement settings our students go into and the sort of careers they have their sights set on following graduation. 

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

You’ll be taught through lectures, seminar activities and tutorials to support you through your assessments and group work.

How you're assessed

You’ll be assessed using case studies, essays, independent research, online tests, posters, presentations and reports. There are no exams.

This degree is your chance to shape and influence many young lives. Early childhood roles are a rapidly growing area of employment in the UK – opening doors to stimulating careers in the independent, private, public or voluntary sectors.

Well qualified and dedicated early childhood professionals are in demand across health, education and social care settings. Our graduates are now enjoying successful careers as early years practitioners and managers. You’ll also find there are ample opportunities for promotion and progression to leadership positions in children’s services.

Our degree is an excellent platform to broaden your career scope by taking additional qualifications. Some of our graduates have, for instance, gone on to train as children’s nurses by undertaking a shortened two-year Paediatric Nursing qualification. You can also consider our exciting range of postgraduate courses, including the MA Education or MA Social Work.

This route is known as the ‘non-practitioner route’ and is academic only, with no full practitioner status attached to it.

Please note that this course does not lead to Qualified Teacher Status. However, if you’d like to train to be a teacher, you will be guaranteed an interview for our PGCE Primary if you meet the entry requirements.

You could also apply to study our PGCE Post-14 (Education and Training).

240 credits from a recognised qualification such as a Foundation Degree, Higher National Diploma, or equivalent international qualification (consisting of 120 credits at level 4 and 120 credits at level 5) in a relevant subject area.

Alternatively, if you hold other relevant qualifications and have significant professional work experience in this field, we can consider this too.

If you do not quite meet the entry criteria, we may be able to offer you a place on a 20-credit bridging module called Certificate of Credit in Preparing to Study at Level 6 (Education, Childhood and SEND) to support your progression onto this Top-Up degree.

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to

Additional costs and optional extras

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.