Why choose the School of Education and English
The Youth Work pathway is validated by the National Youth Agency, providing you with a professional qualification in youth work.
Our links to children/young people’s services extend across Bedfordshire into north London, helping you make connections and find placements.
In the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2025, our social sciences courses rank in the top 10 in their subject field for teaching (3rd); organisation and feedback (6th); and student engagement (6th).
About the course
This 15-month course is specifically for those wanting to work with young people in a variety of settings, giving you the skills and knowledge to pursue or develop your career in youth work. It runs alongside our MA Childhood Youth and Family Studies
You explore the theory, practice, research and policy that underpins children’s, youth and family services while developing your understanding of children’s rights; the ideologies and responsibilities of welfare; and how they are applied.
Course accreditation / industry endorsement
This course with Youth Work pathway is validated by the National Youth Agency, giving you a Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) professional qualification in youth work.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Access to our simulation suites including our brand-new simulation floor that takes you from mock home to hospital, giving you hands-on experience of a range of scenarios you’ll encounter in the real world
- Resources from the National Youth Agency
Industry links
As part of this course, you access the Youth Work Community of Practice network, hosted by the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, which brings together youth workers from across Bedfordshire.
Your student experience
Gain hands-on experience on placement, supporting young people in a range of settings and learning the different ways in which youth work is delivered.
Learn from an expert teaching team with a range of professional experience working with children, young people and families.
Attend regular talks by local practitioners and managers involved in working with children and young people.
Follow your interests with a choice of optional units including young people, group offending and violent crime; safeguarding; coaching and mentoring; and social enterprise.
Complete 400 practice hours on placement (paid or voluntary) across nine months (full time) or two years (part time); if you are not currently in practice, we can support you to find a placement.
Explore practice-based issues by joining the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½â€™s Youth Work Community of Practice, open to all students and practitioners in the region.
Challenge yourself by undertaking an independent research project in a subject area of interest.
Course Leader - Dr Tina Salter
I have been teaching youth and community work in a number of educational settings since 2004. I qualified as a youth and community worker in 1994 and have gone on to be awarded a Masters and Professional Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. I developed a keen interest in mentoring and coaching as this was an area I specialised when working as a youth work and manager in the area of youth inclusion. Part of my doctoral research looked at comparing different mentoring and coaching disciplines and more recent research suggest that greater opportunities to coach young people using strengths-based approaches might be more effective than depending on older, deficit mentoring models.
Course Leader - Dr Tina Salter
I have been teaching youth and community work in a number of educational settings since 2004. I qualified as a youth and community worker in 1994 and have gone on to be awarded a Masters and Professional Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. I developed a keen interest in mentoring and coaching as this was an area I specialised when working as a youth work and manager in the area of youth inclusion. Part of my doctoral research looked at comparing different mentoring and coaching disciplines and more recent research suggest that greater opportunities to coach young people using strengths-based approaches might be more effective than depending on older, deficit mentoring models.
Dimensions of childhood, youth and families – How research has shaped our ideas about childhood and youth, and the current issues and challenges in the field.
Effective and ethical practice when working with children, young people and families – Put your theoretical knowledge into practice and grow your skills in observation, reflection, communication and assessment.
Professional practice portfolio – Develop a portfolio from your youth work placement setting based on your experiences of working there. The portfolio should confirm that you have completed 400 hours of practice to a satisfactory level.
Research methods 1: setting deep foundations – Show you can draw on a range of evidence to explain how existing research relates to specific practice or policies.
PG dissertation in Applied Social Sciences – Plan, develop and produce an original investigation answering a research question relevant to your field of study.
There is also a choice of five optional modules:
• Young people, group offending and violent crime
• Contextual safeguarding: theoretical foundations and practical implications
• Coaching and mentoring practice
• Research methods 2: design, data collection and ethics
• Critical considerations for relationship and sex education.
For an at-a-glance list of modules for this course, download the course specification.
Assessment aims to enhance the learning experience rather than simply provide academic hurdles to be surmounted. Nonetheless it must offer a reliable test of the student's level of academic attainment. To achieve this the assessment methods used must relate closely to the intended unit learning outcomes as evidenced in the UIFs whilst allowing the student maximum scope for creativity in fulfilling them.
The assessment strategy is intended to enable students to:
- Show originality in the application of knowledge and understand how the boundaries are advanced through research.
- Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively and show originality in tackling and solving problems.
- Have the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement personal responsibility and initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments.
The range of assessment methods to be used will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their competence in a variety of ways reflective of different learning styles and will ensure the focus upon a critical awareness of the literature and the application of knowledge into practice with regard to the current social and political frameworks.
Formative assessment is integrated at the start to allow for a level of reflection. A focus upon the application of theory to policy and practice would be expected within such an award and students will be expected as part of the assessment process to consider the impact of such knowledge on both policy and practice especially via the critical appraisal of case studies and the identification of best practice.
Focus is placed on professional skills and assessing students ability to apply learning to practice. Feedback on assessments and the reflections gained through the portfolio will enable students to critically assess their learning and develop where necessary.
A range of appropriate and effective assessments will enable students to demonstrate their acquisition of knowledge and skills. The assessment methods used across the course include: -
- Written essay assignments: These may vary from concise reviews of current research analysis of case studies to more in depth synthesis and evaluation of broader topics and demonstrate your ability to provide written evaluation and synthesis of - current scholarship.
- Oral presentations: These demonstrate verbal and presentational skills in communicating complex and challenging tasks to others.
- A portfolio: Thhis captures learning in the placement setting will be used for students on the youth work pathway to evidence students application of the national occupational standards for youth work.
- The Dissertation: Allowing you to undertake a complex research project and communicate knowledge findings and recommendations demonstrating your ability to implement and deliver a self directed complex and solution focused professional task.
The assessments will develop incrementally across the course and allow students to gain skills and acquire knowledge receive feedback on their performance thus allowing students to implement knowledge and feedback into subsequent assessments.
There is a progression point with an exam board to confirm students can progress from PG Dip to dissertation stage. At the end of the course the assessments will demonstrate students ability to analyse evaluate and syntheses current knowledge and communicate this knowledge in both written and presentational formats and to demonstrate a range of high level transferable skills attractive to prospective employers and as evidenced in the course learning outcomes.
Careers
This course enables you to enhance your career prospects across professional boundaries by broadening and deepening your knowledge and understanding of the lives of young people and the services available to them. Students often go on to work in areas such as youth work, community development or educational settings, with a specialism that focuses on young people. This course also helps you to progress into more senior positions, further develop your practice or go on to become policy-makers.
Entry Requirements
2.2 honours degree or equivalent in related area
Entry Requirements
2.2 honours degree or equivalent in related area
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £10,000 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email [email protected]
International
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £16,900
If you have any questions around fees and funding, please email [email protected]
