Childhood and Youth Studies

Make a real difference to the lives of children and their families on a degree course that combines up-to-the-minute theory with practical experience, providing you with a thorough understanding of the needs of children and young people in a digital age. Start by exploring child development and child welfare as well as the social policies and legislation surrounding it before choosing from specialist options, such as mental health, disability, SEND and youth violence, in your second and third years.

Facilities and specialist equipment

• On-campus library with extensive range of physical and digital resources.

• Bespoke lecture theatres, presentation rooms and group study spaces

• New, state-of-the-art simulation suites offering a range of relevant practice scenarios

• Interactive learning opportunities with the use of case studies

Career-powered links

Our strong links with local organisations, charities and practitioners open up opportunities for voluntary and work placements in the community. For example, our students have recently undertaken projects in local primary schools, family centres, youth centres and with the Youth Partnership Service.

Your student experience

Learn from a research-active academic team with a wide range of relevant experience including in counselling, alternative provision, youth work, coaching, sex education and early years.

Careers and employability units are embedded into the course throughout.

Practise real-life scenarios using our ‘home to hospital’ simulation unit, Brewster Square, in a new work-based learning unit.

Build your practical skills through volunteering work, using our strong links with local companies, charities and practitioners.

Choose to undertake a 100-hour placement as your final project instead of a dissertation.

Take on accredited training leading to a Certificate in Safeguarding in your final year.

Immerse yourself in our #SASS Change Maker initiative, which works with local charities, policymakers and influencers to raise awareness of topical issues in society.

Benefit from regular industry visitors and guest speakers such as representatives from Flying Start and as part of our #SASS Changemaker programme.

Extend your learning with subject-relevant field trips such as the Young V&A Museum of Childhood.

Course modules

To build your academic and research skills, we include special units that prepare you for researching and writing your assessments and final-year dissertation: Introducing academic skills (Year 1); Research 1: collecting data and Research 2: exploring data (Year 2).

Year 1
Introduction to research and social enquiry – How and why we carry out social science research, and the current debates in the field. Career planning for social scientists – Consider possible graduate destinations, pulling together your own personal development plan. Narratives of childhood and youth - Examine children and young people’s lives from historical, sociological and philosophical perspectives. Development in childhood and youth - Use your understanding of human development to help you with assessments and interventions for children, young people, their families and adults. Relation-based practice - Build the skills you need to connect with people using services across social care, youth work, health, criminal justice and education.

Year 2
Digital childhoods - Explore young people’s rights online; how social media has provided them with a voice; and the risks of digital citizenship. Perceptions and discourses of childhood - How policies shape, and are shaped by, the perceptions and debates around children’s rights. Work-related experience in childhood and youth - A work-experience opportunity that lets you show your skills through practice, shadowing, simulations and assessed tasks.

You can also choose from four optional units:
•    Disability in society
•    Addictions and society
•    Living with mental health conditions
•    Leadership and management in early years

Year 3
Child protection and safeguarding: the contexts of vulnerability - Gain enhanced knowledge of developments in child protection; explore past, current and emerging approaches; develop the skills needed to work in this demanding field. SASS Change Maker project – Deliver a project that will create change and address an identified need in a community-based organisation. SASS Change Maker research dissertation - Create a research proposal, address its ethical considerations, and conduct an in-depth study aligned with your course and career goals.

You can also choose from five optional units:
•    Childhoods in a global context
•    The lived experiences of children and young people in diverse family and social circumstances
•    Violence in modern society
•    Issues of childhood and social justice
•    Youth justice, gangs and serious violence

Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.