Subject overview

Why social work and working with children and young people?

Social workers work with a range of people facing difficulties and often crises. The BA in Social Work is an approved route into social work practice for those who do not already hold a good undergraduate degree. Those who have completed a recognised qualifying degree and who successfully register with the professional body at the end of their degree are able to call themselves social workers.

However, there is a range of careers that involve working with children and young people directly or indirectly for whom no social work qualification is required. Such roles offer rewarding opportunities for those interested in working with children and young people in a range of settings, including working overseas. These roles include youth worker and youth support, classroom assistants and learning mentors, as well as residential care work and family support work. This is why we have developed our innovative BA in Working with Children and Young People.

How will I learn?

We provide a variety of learning opportunities throughout our degrees, including workshops, seminars and lectures, led by academic staff, researchers, practitioners, service users and carers. You will be encouraged to develop the skills of learning independently and learning in a group, both essential for future professional practice.

BA in Social Work

You will undertake a range of different kinds of assessment tasks, including reflective journals, essays, report writing, exams, placement portfolios and, in Year 3, a dissertation that focuses on the integration of theory and practice. Academic work is regularly assessed and University staff provide regular and constructive feedback to enable you to develop your practice. Work in placements is assessed by practice assessors supported by University staff. To be awarded the BA in Social Work, competence must be assessed as satisfactory on both the academic and practice-based parts of the degree.

BA in Working with Children and Young People

There will be essays, ‘open book’ examinations, group presentations and writing, to reflect the different academic, personal and pre-professional skills this course enables you to develop. Our faculty, together with local employers and services across the University, pay careful attention to your employment needs.

Programme content

The BA is at the forefront of interdisciplinary approaches to applied childhood and youth studies. It offers innovative study, combining crossdisciplinary theoretical perspectives on childhood, youth and family with real-world experience in short observational placements. 

You will look critically at theory, policy and practice underpinning key issues of relevance to children and young people, as well as their education, health and development. You will focus on the study of child and adolescent development; the sociology of childhood and youth; children’s rights and legal frameworks; international perspectives on childhood; social pedagogy (and linked European approaches to work with children, young people, and families); professional roles; social exclusion; health and well-being; families and communities; and research methods appropriate to the discipline. 

Taught by leading researchers and expert practitioners within education, social work and social care, this BA is suitable for those who are considering a career concerned with children and young people, in the UK or internationally. That includes those wishing to enter into the children’s workforce, those wishing to consider professional training in social work, teaching or law at postgraduate level, those considering policy-oriented careers, and those interested in carrying out further study in this fascinating and important field. 

We aim to recruit a diverse intake of students each year and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. 

Core content

Year 1

You are introduced to key theories and debates, and also learn about ‘social pedagogy’, a theoretical discipline informing work with children and young people in many European countries.

You take the modules Childhood, Youth and Transition • Children’s Rights and Legal Frameworks • Contemporary Debates 1 • European Perspectives: Social Pedagogy (including an observational placement).

You also have the opportunity to choose from a variety of elective options and can use these options to specialise in specific areas of interest. Options include psychology, education, sociology, anthropology, and creative approaches such as music, film and media studies.

Year 2

Teaching builds on the theoretical foundations established in Year 1 with a greater focus on the application of theory to policy and practice, as well as on the nature of professional practice itself. The Introduction to Research Methods module helps prepare you for your dissertation in your final year.

You take the modules Contemporary Debates 2 • Interprofessional Practice • Introduction to Research Methods • Working with Children, Young People and Families (including an observational placement).

You also have the opportunity to choose from a variety of elective options, and can use these options to specialise in specific areas of interest. Options include psychology, education, sociology, anthropology, and creative approaches such as music, film and media studies.

Final year

You consider new theoretical content at an advanced level in relation to prior theoretical and applied learning as you move towards a critical integration of theory and practice. Your learning culminates in the production of a dissertation based on a research project.

You take Childhood Contexts: Parents and Families • Childhood Contexts: Institutions, Communities and Society • Contemporary Debates 3 • Health and Well-Being • Dissertation.

Entry requirements

Sussex welcomes applications from students of all ages who show evidence of the academic maturity and broad educational background that suggests readiness to study at degree level. For most students, this will mean formal public examinations; details of some of the most common qualifications we accept are shown below. If you are an overseas student, refer to Applicants from outside the UK.

All teaching at Sussex is in the English language. If your first language is not English, you will also need to demonstrate that you meet our English language requirements.

Please note: We are not able to consider applications to transfer direct into the 2nd year of the degree in Working with Children and Young People in 2012. Applications will only be considered for 1st year entry.

A level

Typical offer: ABB-BBB

International Baccalaureate

Typical offer: 32-34 points overall

For more information refer to International Baccalaureate.

Other qualifications

Access to HE Diploma

Typical offer: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with at least 39 Level 3 credits at Merit or above, including 21 Level 3 credits at Distinction.

For more information refer to Access to HE Diploma.

Advanced Diploma

Typical offer: Pass with at least a grade B in the Diploma and A in the Additional and Specialist Learning.

Specific entry requirements: The Additional and Specialist Learning must be an A-level (ideally in a humanities or social science subject).

For more information refer to Advanced Diploma.

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma

Typical offer: DDM-DDD

For more information refer to BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.

European Baccalaureate

Typical offer: Overall result of at least 75%

For more information refer to European Baccalaureate.

Finnish Ylioppilastutkinto

Typical offer: Overall average result in the final matriculation examinations of at least 5.5.

French Baccalauréat

Typical offer: Overall final result of at least 12.5/20

German Abitur

Typical offer: Overall result of 2.0 or better

Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level)

Typical offer: AABBBB-BBBBBB

Italian Diploma di Maturità or Diploma Pass di Esame di Stato

Typical offer: Final Diploma of at least 88/100

Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

Typical offer: AABBB-ABBBB

For more information refer to Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers.

Spanish Titulo de Bachillerato (LOGSE)

Typical offer: Overall average result of at least 7.5

Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma

Typical offer: Pass the Core plus BB in two A levels

For more information refer to Welsh Baccalaureate.

Related subjects

• Cultural studies
• Sociology

Fees and funding

Fees

Home/EU students: £9,000
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £9,000
Overseas students: £12,300

Further information

Refer to Tuition fees, Living expenses and Other costs.

Funding

Refer to Funding for information on Sussex and Government support, including the First-Generation Scholars scheme and the Chancellor's International Scholarships. Also refer to Part-time work.

Careers and profiles

Career opportunities

This degree will prepare you to work in a range of exciting settings and roles within the field of working with children, young people, and their carers and families. These roles are many and varied and their specifics are subject to change and development according to changes in policy and Governmental priorities but the demand for a more highly skilled and research-aware workforce is clear and likely to remain so for many years to come.

The flexible professional focus of this BA ensures that our graduates will be prepared for a wide range of employment and educational opportunities, including:

• direct employment in children’s or young people’s services such as nurseries or children’s centres; mentoring in schools; working in a Pupil Referral unit; youth work; residential care work; parenting or family support in mainstream or social care services
• further training to practise as a teacher, social worker or lawyer
• further study, for example the MA in Childhood and Youth Studies or the MA in International Education and Development
• employment within UK or overseas charitable organisations working to support children and young people
• policy-oriented employment opportunities, whether working within independent or charitable organisations, nationally or internationally, or through local government or the civil service.

Contact our School

School of Education and Social Work

The School of Education and Social Work combines two very strong departments with excellent reputations, and serves the needs of its students as well as those of the wider community.

How do I find out more?

For further information, contact:

David Morris,
Programme Co-ordinator, BA in Working with Children and Young People, 
School of Education and Social Work,
Essex House,
University of Sussex, Falmer, 
Brighton BN1 9QQ, UK
E eswenquiries@sussex.ac.uk
T +44 (0)1273 678447
School of Education and Social Work

For more information about the admissions process at Sussex:

Undergraduate Admissions,
Sussex House,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK

T +44 (0)1273 678416
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E ug.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

Visit us

Campus tours

We offer weekly guided campus tours.

Mature student information sessions

From application to graduation: these monthly sessions offer you an insight into mature student study at Sussex. (Followed by a guided campus tour.)

Self-guided visits

If you are unable to make any of the visit opportunities listed, drop in Monday to Friday year-round and collect a self-guided tour pack from Sussex House reception.