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Summary:


Course Code: X411


Course Code: X413

Where Are You Applying From?

How Would You Like To ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½?

When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?

Which Campus Would You Like To ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ At?

Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?

Why choose the School of Education


Our Early Childhood Education course ranked 4th in its subject table for student satisfaction (Complete ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Guide, 2024).

Our Education courses achieved over 90% positive ratings for most of the questions in the 2024 National Student Survey.

95% of our Education students were satisfied with the learning opportunities their course offered, including developing knowledge and skills for the future.

About the course

If your dream is to work with young children, this course gives you a deep understanding of early years education, preparing you for a wide range of careers or for further study to become a teacher. You will develop an inter-disciplinary knowledge of how children develop in learning and thinking in their early years (0-7 years).

Course accreditation

The course gives you a DfE-recognised Graduate Practitioner qualification alongside your degree.

Facilities and specialist equipment

  • Forest School where you can deepen your understanding of the long-term educational benefits of outdoor learning.
  • Specialist sensory centre for practise in teaching SEND and early years pupils.
  • Multi-media space for webinars and podcasting.
  • 80-seat black-box theatre and 260-seat professional theatre.
  • A wide range of sports facilities including the Polhill Sports Arena, an international PE venue.

Industry links

As one of the largest providers of teacher education in the eastern region, we have well-established partnerships with more than 500 schools and other associated organisations, a network that puts us at the forefront of educational developments.Ìý

Student experience

  • Our Bedford campus is a small, thriving academic community where academic staff get to know you well.
  • You learn the latest innovative practices in early childhood education and care, with the support of a highly experienced academic team, actively involved in research in their fields.
  • You participate in practical workshops on campus and in early years settings, and benefit from university-organised placements (80 days over three years) in a variety of early childhood settings.
  • You benefit from the support of your own personal tutor, a subject and/or placement mentor, a unit and course coordinator, and the additional support of our experienced library staff, all of whom will help you throughout your student journey and with balancing study with work and personal commitments.
  • You have the opportunity to go on relevant field trips to places you would be likely to take your pupils, such as theatres; museums; art galleries; and attend relevant educational conferences.
  • We have regular visits by professionals from schools and academy chains including both primary and secondary head teachers; SEN schools; local education authorities; and other agencies involved in broadening students understanding such as the NHS (neurodiversity), museums, local faith leaders and sports representatives. 

with Professional Practice Year

This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.

There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.

*Only available to UK/EU students.

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with Foundation Year

A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.

Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.

With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.

The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.

This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.

Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?

  • Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
  • Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
  • Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
  • Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees

The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.

During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.

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Course Leader - Julie Beams

I gained Qualified Teacher Status in 1987 and have worked in a number of educational settings since then. I have taught across the whole primary age range.

My main focus, however, has been working with children in the Foundation Stage (0 – 5) in schools, day nurseries and Children's Centres in both a hands-on practitioner and an advisory capacity and in a range of different local authorities in England.

Course Leader - Julie Beams

I gained Qualified Teacher Status in 1987 and have worked in a number of educational settings since then. I have taught across the whole primary age range.

My main focus, however, has been working with children in the Foundation Stage (0 – 5) in schools, day nurseries and Children's Centres in both a hands-on practitioner and an advisory capacity and in a range of different local authorities in England.

What will you study?


ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ing our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education (Graduate Practitioner) course will equip you with specialist knowledge and skills around early years education. It offers you a full and relevant practising qualification recognised by the Department for Education. You will undertake 80 days of assessed placement within the 0 to seven age group and collect a range of evidence for a professional portfolio as well exploring your understanding of a range of childhood theories and approaches in taught sessions and assessments. As an aspiring early years practitioner, it is essential that you have in-depth knowledge of Early Child Development, therefore this unit aims to provide you with a wide range of research and theory in the field. You will be introduced to current legislation and guidance around Early Years Curriculum Studies to examine how academic research and child development theories are used to develop policy. To broaden your views on educational practice, these units later link to our International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education unit where you will examine international and renowned approaches used to support early years learning.ÌýÌý

The unit Narratives of Childhood will be useful in developing your understanding of theories on childhood, youth and education. This knowledge will allow you to raise critical questions about children’s care policies, welfare and education over time. In more specific areas of study, our Early Representations of Numeracy and Literacy unit will allow you to explore how young children develop their literacy and numeracy skills at an early age and can be supported by practitioners and the environment in appropriate ways. In practical areas of study, you will learn to support and promote early education and development in our Developing Practice in Early Childhood Settings unit. You will keep this knowledge in mind during the Developing Teaching Practice unit. Moreover, our unit in Reflecting on Quality in Early Childhood Settings will enhance your understanding of how reflective thinking can enable the most effective provision for young children’s thinking and help practitioners to tune into children and help those children make sense of their world. To diversify your skill set further, our unit in Professionalism, Leadership and Management in the Early Years will equip you with the organisational, legal and interpersonal skills you need to lead a team and ensure that your work with diverse groups of people is of a high quality to help you to support both team and children’s needs effectively..Ìý

As an early years professional, a deep knowledge of children with differing needs is a crucial factor in ensuring equality of opportunities for them to be included and to flourish. This is where our units in Inclusive Education in the Early Years and Inclusive Practice in Early Childhood Settings will enable you to examine approaches to ensure an understanding and equitable approach to curriculum opportunities. More generally, The Lifelong Curriculum unit aims to develop your understanding of key considerations in curriculum design, and you will learn not only to design curriculum, but how to implement it based on educational policy. With more young people experiencing mental health issues, our unit in Children and Young People’s Wellbeing will teach you to support children through understanding social and emotional issues in education. Similarly, our unit in Representations of Disability will allow you to criticise disability representation in the media and how this influences perceptions of disability. In other areas of study, you might select to study an Introduction to Educational Philosophy where you will consider a range of philosophical concepts and methods that can be applied to educational contexts.ÌýÌý

We support you from the beginning to the end of your academic and research journey. Our Key Concepts in Education unit gives you the skills to produce academic work to a higher education standard through debates and written exercises. To introduce you to research skills, our unit Investigating the Social World will equip you with an understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, data collection, analysis and reporting.Ìý Finally, you will plan and execute an independent research project in our Dissertation unit where you will choose a relevant topic of interest to you and work under the guidance of a supervisor. This is a celebration of all the skills you have learned and offers you an opportunity to specialise in studying an area that interests you.Ìý

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How will you be assessed?


This course aims to provide a range of assessment methods to support the diverse needs of all learners. Assessments include exams essays case studies portfolios presentations reflections on work-based learning and culminate in a research-based dissertation. The assignments will build directly on the teaching sessions and you will be supported by lecturers to develop your individual assignment through tutorials and in class activities. In level 4 more support is also provided in the form of formative assessments.

At Levels 5 and 6 developmental assessment opportunities are offered in the form of peer assessment and individual/group tutorials. Substantial guidance is provided on how to complete the assignments on the university Virtual Learning Environment called BREO (Bedfordshire Resources for Education Online) and in Unit handbooks seminars and detailed assessment briefs. Many of the assessments relate to real world situations and will encourage you to draw upon your work experience and observations from Early Years settings.

Careers


After graduating from this course you will be well placed to enter a career working with young children in community and social care settings educational welfare children’s centres or as a senior play worker/co-ordinator/manager.

This course can also be a route to further study to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or progress to a Master’s-level course in a related area. Please note that studying to gain QTS/EYTS requires GCSE grades A/9-C/4 in maths English and science (or equivalent).

Entry Requirements

96 UCAS tariff points including 80 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalentAn Enhanced DBS check is required

Entry Requirements

48 UCAS tariff points including 32 from at least 1 A-level or equivalentAn Enhanced DBS check is required

Fees for this course

UK

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See

Excellence Scholarships

Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*

» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**

» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available

* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.

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International

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.

There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.

A full list of scholarships can be found here.

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk

Fees for this course

UK

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See

Excellence Scholarships

Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*

» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**

» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available

* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.

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International

The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.

There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.

A full list of scholarships can be found here.

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk

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