Early Childhood Development and Learning
Entry requirements
Access to HE Diploma
The Access to HE Diploma to include 15 Level 3 credits at Merit. Plus GCSE English and GCSE Mathematics at grade 4 / C or above.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
5 GCSEs at grade 4 / C or above to include English and Mathematics.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
from a minimum of two A2 levels or BTEC equivalent qualification.
About this course
Working with children on educational and personal development can be an extremely rewarding career. Focusing on ages 0 to 8, this course aims to produce graduates who can contribute to early years provision.
Success in this field demands creativity, empathy, logic and a great deal of knowledge alongside the ability to draw upon life experiences. As no two days are the same in this industry, this course focuses on policies, processes, best practices and practical learning to help you understand the key fundamentals of child development*.
- Opportunities to engage with students at other international universities and industry experts through initiatives like our Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project.
- Conduct critical research with our highly-experienced staff.
- Opportunity to take part in invaluable practical placements* (if taking the Graduate Practitioner route.
- Additional option to work towards obtaining Graduate Practitioner status in early childhood settings*
- Undertake an investigation into a topic relating to early childhood enabling you to make informed recommendations for future policy, research and practice.
- You are encouraged to draw on your own personal experience and make links between your study at university, your personal experience and your professional practice in the field of early childhood.
- You can explore a range of international perspectives on early childhood, which you can apply to your own research area.
* See website for details.
Modules
Year One
With a child-centred approach, this year is designed to introduce the key concepts and principles within childhood development and learning. Setting the framework for both academic and professional skills, you will gain an understanding of factors that impact upon learning and development from both individual needs to environmental influences for children between the ages of 0 to 8 years. Within the first year you will be introduced to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), alongside a number of other international curricula.
Modules
Collaborative and Supportive Relationships in Early Years Setting
Promoting Children’s Health, Wellbeing and Safety
The Child, the Family and the Community
Learning and Development Through Play
Year Two
As the course progresses, you will continue to build on knowledge gained in year one to solidify core principles. Critical appraisal of childhood perception is introduced, alongside evaluations of diversity in development methods. You will analyse the role of statutory guidance for early years practice and legislation. Finally, you delve into the global sphere, interacting with students from international universities to understand global methods (subject to availability). This research is then used to compare different countries’ early years policies with the UK educational system.
Modules
Early Years Pedagogy and Practice
Theoretical Perspectives on Child Development
Sustainability in the Early Years
Researching and Assessing Children and Families
Placement Year
There’s no better way to find out what you love doing than trying it out for yourself, which is why a work placement2 can often be beneficial. Work placements usually occur before your final year of study. They’re a great way to help you explore your potential career path and gain valuable work experience, whilst developing transferable skills for the future.
Final Year
In year three, you explore cultural diversification and management as well as delving into international perspectives of children. You’ll examine family structures and different environments, analysing and understanding diverse ethnic backgrounds and educational differences. You will be trained at an executive level, learning the skills required to manage a nursery, including key components such as the recruitment of staff and the Management of Special Needs and Disabilities (SEND) requirements.
Modules
International Perspectives of Childhood
Effective Leadership and Management of an Early Years Environment
Inclusion, Equality and Diversity
Research Project
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated. Before accepting any offers, please check the website for the most up to date course content.
Assessment methods
This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.
Assessment methods include:
Formal examinations
Phase tests
Essays
Group work
Presentations
Reports
Projects
Coursework
Exams
Individual Assignments
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Childhood and youth studies
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Childhood and youth studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Childhood and youth studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£20k
£29k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
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It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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