Learning Support

Overview
If you’re currently working in learning support – such as in a teaching assistant role – and you’re ready to take the next step in your career, our Foundation degree (FdA) in Learning Support will put you on the right track.

As a learning support professional, you play an invaluable role in enabling children to realise what they’re capable of. Your experience is excellent groundwork from which to develop greater educational support expertise, or even to move towards becoming a teacher.

We know you’re busy in the classroom, so we’ve made it simple to complete your studies alongside your job by studying at one of our partner colleges. Whichever you choose, you’ll be a student of the University of Portsmouth, so you’ll have access to all of our facilities and support.

When you graduate, you'll have new skills and insight to bring to your learning support role. You could also use your foundation degree to access further study that leads to Qualified Teacher Status.

This course isn't currently open to international students outside the EU.

• Develop your teaching assistant skills by exploring how best to support learners across key subject areas such as literacy and numeracy

• Discover how to support children with a range of needs, including those with special educational needs and disability (SEND) and social, emotional and mental health difficulties

• Learn in supportive study groups, alongside other teaching assistants from different educational backgrounds, and find out how to take the knowledge and skills you learn in our classroom back to yours

• Be taught by expert staff with extensive experience, using dynamic and relevant teaching methods to help you get the most out of your studies

• Study alongside your job at one of our partner colleges: South Hampshire College Group - Eastleigh Campus (full time only) or Isle of Wight College (full time only)

Careers and opportunities
This Learning Support Foundation degree (FdA) will enrich your classroom experience with the education theory, best practice approaches and professional recognition you need to best support children in an assisting role, or to progress on a new career path towards becoming a teacher.

What can you do with a Learning Support FdA?
After the course, you'll have a university-level qualification that's recognised in the primary school sector.

You'll stand out as a learning support professional with the skills to work in:

• primary learning support

• higher level teaching assistance (HLTA)

• learning mentorship

• family support

• behaviour management

Alternatively, you could go on to do a Bachelor's degree such as our BA (Hons) Education Studies (Top-Up).

Once you have a full Bachelors degree, you could then progress on to courses that enable you to earn Qualified Teacher Status, such as a PGCE Primary or a School Centred Initial Teacher Training Programme (SCITT).

Year 1

Core modules on the course include:

• Educational Contexts (20 credits)
• How Learning Develops (20 credits)
• Supporting Literacy (20 credits)
• The Role of the Professional in Supporting Learning (40 credits)
• Safeguarding (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2

Core modules:

• Practitioner Based Enquiry - Proposal (20 credits)
• Practitioner Based Enquiry - Report (20 credits)
• Supporting Learners with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties (20 credits)
• Supporting Numeracy (20 credits)
• Supporting Send (20 credits)
• Theory and Practice of Assessment (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course - content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

You’ll be assessed through:

• essays
• case studies
• reflective reports
• research projects

You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.