Careers Brief - Early Years FdA
Overview
Your part-time Foundation degree in Early Years will provide you with both a nationally recognised qualification and evidence of your ability in your field. You will also have the opportunity for progression onto an Honours degree.
Apart from the knowledge and experience gained from your training, you will have developed effective transferable skills useful in a range of jobs, such as teamworking, time-management, planning, being persuasive, written and verbal communication.
To clarify your personal career direction or to consider a wider choice of careers, matched to your interests, use the Prospects Planner www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner/ and other tools in the Career Planning section of this Careers Guide.
Use the website links below to find out more.
Further Study
You will be able to apply for a Top-up degree. Top-up degrees are designed as a direct progression from Foundation degree to achieve an Ordinary or Honours degree.
Alternatively, you could transfer into a related Honours degree. Entry point would depend on your grades, experience and overlap between courses but could be into the final year.
Go to the Links on the HE Home page for information on the BA (Hons) Early Years Care and Education - level H Top-up degree (full-time or part-time) studied at Bournemouth University (click on sub-heading 'Courses') and designed as a direct progression from this course.
Other institutions offering related Top-ups include:
Birmingham City University; Blackburn College; Bradford College; Croydon College; University of Gloucestershire; University of Greenwich; Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education; University of Huddersfield; University of Lincoln; Newcastle College; University Campus Suffolk; University of Worcester.
To search for degree courses go to www.ucas.com (UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK). Use the university/college links for course details.
You will need to use UCAS to apply for courses. Contact the Course Tutor of your chosen course to find out your position, before you make your formal application.
Find out how much this will cost you. Where is the funding coming from? Go to the university/college website for information on course costs and finance and to www.direct.gov.uk/uni/ for additional help with student support.
With a good Honours degree (First or 2.1), you could progress onto an appropriate higher level Masters and/or PhD doctorate. This could be to develop your area of study to a more in-depth practical and/or academic level or to gain other specialist training.
For information on all postgraduate courses and research, go to the national online directory at www.prospects.ac./uk/links/pgstudy/ .
Go to the main section Further Study in this Guide for more information and help.
Resources
Graduate Prospects - online national careers service for HE students studying in the UK:
- Drop down 'Career advice' and click on 'Use your qualification' for 'Your Foundation degree...what next?'
- Drop down 'Sectors' and click on 'Teaching & education'
- Drop down 'Jobs & work' and click on 'What job would suit me?' for Prospects Planner
Training and Development Agency for Schools - for teaching and support staff roles
Social Care and Social Work Careers information site - including social work training and jobs in social care without a degree
Working in the NHS - find out about careers in the NHS in England and look for jobs
http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/
Careers database and links to jobs nationally. Search by either clicking on side-heading 'Careers' and choose a category or type in job title.
http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/
Careers Advice Service
www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u/
Jobs4U Careers Database - click on sub-heading 'Job Families & Articles' for 'Education and Training' + 'Healthcare' + 'Social Work and Counselling'
www.guidance-research.org/future-trends/earlyyears/
Warwick Institute for Employment Research - Early years education, childcare and playwork
Community Care magazine online - including jobs and employer search
The Guardian newspaper online - a key source for current education news and jobs
TES - The Times Educational Supplement online for current education news and jobs
Go to the Job Applications section of this Careers Guide for advice and help with making applications.
