Why study this course

Earn While You Learn: This programme allows you to continue working or volunteering while pursuing your degree, providing you with valuable practical experience alongside your academic studies.

High Student Satisfaction: The National Student Survey in 2024 revealed an impressive satisfaction rate among students in the professional practice programmes, highlighting the quality and effectiveness of our education.

Blended Learning Delivery: Small number of days on campus and remote face-to-face live sessions.

Course summary

Have you ever thought about working towards a degree, but decided against it as you are already in employment or volunteering and don’t want to give that up? Our FdA Childhood, Youth and Families in Practice course is designed for those working or volunteering with children, young people, families and communities, for example in the youth sector, in residential care, in pastoral roles in schools with children and young people aged 9-24 years.

Key facts

Award

FdA

UCAS code

L595

Duration

2 years

Mode of study

Full time, Blended

Start date

September 2026

Award

Lincoln Bishop University

Institution code

B38

Main Campus

Apply for this course

When you're ready to apply, the route you take will depend on your personal circumstances and preferred method of study. Click the relevant button below to start your application journey. Please note this course is for September 2025 entry.

About this course

The Foundation Degree is a blended, work-based programme that combines practical learning with live online teaching and occasional campus sessions. You will attend online classes twice a week in real time, with five in-person teaching days across the academic year, making it possible to continue working or volunteering while you study.

Over the two-year programme, you will integrate your previous experience of working with children, young people, and families into your studies. In your first year, you will explore key learning principles to support your transition into higher education. You will also examine how your practice links to theoretical concepts, helping you to understand the needs of learners and to reflect on and support your professional development.
In your second year, you will study important topics such as inclusion, equality, diversity, learning, and voice. You will also have opportunities to collaborate with students from other related courses, such as early childhood and a broad range of education settings. This collaboration will help you broaden your understanding of working with learners across different ages and contexts, expand your perspectives on working with children, young people, and families, and strengthen your future career prospects.

This course is suitable for staff in local authorities, schools, the NHS, and the voluntary and third sectors who use group work, informal learning and activity, outreach, and community work as part of their role—particularly those working with children, young people, and adults often identified as hard to reach. If you want to make a difference in the lives of children, young people, and their families, this is the degree for you.

The programme is a stepping stone for the BA (Hons) Childhood, Youth and Families in practice Top-Up route.

What you will study

Students on this course currently study some or all of the following modules:

This module provides an induction to higher education and supports the development of academic literacies. The underpinning foundations for professional learning are the focus of ‘Tools for Learning’ including reflection. The module also introduces well–established traditional and contemporary learning theories in relation to higher education and supporting children and young people’s development. 

The module will include an induction to the range of learning resources available to facilitate the development of higher education academic literacy skills. 

You will practice and develop your study skills, and you will evaluate and reflect on your personal learning and professional practice. You will consider the tools and principles relating to supporting your own and others learning development and achievement.
 

This module introduces you to key philosophies, concepts, policies, and forms of provision that underpin educational practice. It provides a historical and contemporary overview of education and social provision, enabling you to critically explore how different educational and social philosophies, policies, and legislative frameworks influence practice across diverse settings.

You will engage with the work of key thinkers and social reformers, examining how these ideas continue to shape provision for children, young people, and families. 

Through reflection on your own practice contexts and comparison across different sectors, you will begin to understand and articulate the relationship between theory, policy, and everyday professional practice. 

Although developmental theories of education and learning are used throughout the programme, this module ensures you have a secure grounding in a range of perspectives to enable exploration of theories, principles and policy relating to the development of the individual in society. The module explores the influencing factors on development and how children and young people may be supported. The module enables you to evaluate the impact of development and will include a range of theories and perspectives based in sociology and psychology. There will be opportunities to develop the understanding gained in prior learning of how development can impact on children and young people’s learning. The module introduces you to contemporary concepts and principles of supporting children and young people in a range of practice settings.

This module introduces you to the concept of working together in practice, with a focus on how professionals collaborate to support children, young people and families. You will explore what effective collaborative practice looks like within teams and when working with other organisations such as education, health, social care and community services.

The module considers both the benefits and challenges of working with others to safeguard children and young people, promote well-being and support positive behaviour. You will examine legislation and guidance, reflect on your own workplace experiences and consider how collaborative working can either support or create difficulties within professional environments.

This module provides an in-depth exploration of equality, diversity, and inclusion, supporting you to critically engage with a wide range of theories and models that underpin inclusive practice across educational and care settings. While inclusive practice is embedded throughout the programme, this module offers a dedicated opportunity for you to deepen your understanding and apply theory to address complex societal inequalities.

Building on foundational knowledge from year one, you will extend your appreciation of how socio-political factors, inequality and power influence participation. You will examine your own values and beliefs in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion and consider how these may affect yours, and others, professional behaviours

This practice-based module is designed to enable you to explore your professional practice working with children, young people and/or families. This module is concerned with ensuring the continued success and quality of provision within the education, early childhood and youth sectors. 

The key aspects of quality, effectiveness and success are dependent upon a workforce who is reflective, competent and skilled within their subject specific areas. The overall aim of this module is for you to gain a practical and theoretical understanding of the importance of reflection, particularly in challenging personal and professional practice. 

This module will also analyse principles of practice including competence frameworks, which aims to support you to develop your capacity to engage in informed, constructive reflection. 

This module explores the theoretical and practical foundations of supporting learning and assessment within informal settings. It integrates key themes from both pedagogy and assessment, offering you the opportunity to develop professional knowledge and skills that reflect contemporary practice and debates. You will critically examine pedagogical approaches and assessment strategies, and their application to practice.  This module supports you to consider how to adapt and differentiate support and assessment practices in response to complex needs and within a range different learning environments, also exploring the practitioner’s role within ethical practice. The significance of working in partnership with other professionals will be a key focus. You will explore the importance of limitations of education within a variety of learning environments and organisations.

The Practitioner Research module provides you with the opportunity to design a research project. You will be introduced to the broad principles of research design, by engaging with the process of a literature review, you will develop subject knowledge pertinent to the area of inquiry. Ethical issues will be addressed, including the key principles of informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality. You will be introduced to a range of data collection methods and techniques for analysing and presenting research findings and this will be supported through lectures. You will expected to collect primary data from your fellow students within the class, and will then be guided to write up specific elements of your project for the assessments.

Entry requirements

  • Typically, a minimum of one year’s experience in practice.
  • Minimum of two days a week (minimum of 12 hours per week accumulating to 360 hours per year of study in a relevant role, either as an employee or a volunteer).
  • Typically a Level 3 Diploma, NVQs, access to HE programmes, subject/vocational qualifications.
  • Written support from the head teacher/workplace manager in which the applicant works or volunteers.

Further information

Click here for important information about this course including additional costs, resources and key policies.

In accordance with University conditions, students are entitled to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning, RP(C)L, based on relevant credit at another HE institution or credit Awarded for Experiential Learning, (RP(E)L).

How you will be taught

This work-focused degree is a combination of practice-based learning and campus-based sessions which run for two evenings a week, so that you are able to continue in employment throughout the course. The degree is designed to improve and develop your personal and professional communication skills, allows you to professionalise your approach and further your personal growth.
 

You will work with a range of experienced academic staff and be supported through peer-led groups, directed tasks and interactive web-based resources.

Assessment

Typically, a variety of assessment methods are used including presentations, discussions, debates, poster presentations, essays, portfolios of work, case studies and reflections. All assessments allow you to reflect on your practice and theory as you evidence your learning, building on your personal strengths to develop clear communication skills to share your knowledge and understanding.

Careers & Further study

Many of our Foundation degree graduates take on higher level roles specialising in areas such as family liaison, special education needs, managing settings in youth work, mentoring or roles in the wider community and with local authorities. The degree has evolved to respond to the demand for graduate professionals set by the government through the professionalisation of the children’s and youth workforce.

The majority of students advance onto our Top Up Degrees to take their qualifications to honours degree level. Like the Foundation degree, these Top Up Degrees allow you to study and continue to work.

What Our Students Say

Discover what life is like at Lincoln Bishop University from our students.

Ethical considerations of doctoral methodologies Podcast

Dr Nyree Nicholson is a Programme Leader on our work-based Foundation Degree programmes. The title of her doctoral research was “Supporting children with identified speech, language and communication needs at two-years-old: voices of early years practitioners”. Nyree utilised a narrative hermeneutic methodology with conversational interviews to explore the lived experiences of fifteen early years practitioners.

Samantha Hoyes is a senior lecturer in Early Childhood Studies and is currently part way through her PhD. Her focus is on working motherhood in the 21st Century and how working mothers make sense of their identities. Applying a post-structuralist feminist approach, Sam has utilised photo elicitation interviews to explore working mothers lived experiences. Sam's sample will consist of 10-15 working mothers living in Lincolnshire with a child/ children aged 0-5 years at the time of data collection. She is currently around halfway through her initial data collection.

In this podcast, Nyree and Sam discuss the methodological approaches taken in the research process and share the ethical considerations they encountered throughout the research process.

For any more question or queries please contact Samantha.hoyes@lincolnbishop.ac.uk and nyree-anne.nicholson@lincolnbishop.ac.uk