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Childhood and Youth Studies with Psychology at University of Portsmouth - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

University of Portsmouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Open days

7Dec
University of Portsmouth Open Day
Undergraduate

Course summary

This is a Connected Degree Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course. Overview Young people’s development has as much to do with how they think as it does their circumstances and environment. On this Childhood and Youth Studies with Psychology degree, you’ll learn what makes young people tick as you develop knowledge of the biological and social factors that impact their complex journey into adulthood. You’ll gain the expert skills and knowledge needed for a rewarding career working with and supporting children and young people aged 8–25. You could go onto work in sectors such as youth work, mental health support, teaching, fundraising. Course highlights

  • Tap into the latest research happening at the University on pressing subjects such as the effect of the pandemic on children’s development and child safeguarding
  • Complete a minimum 60 hours of placement at an appropriate setting in year two
  • Be taught by education and psychology specialists who have years of experience in the field and links to a network of potential employers
  • Investigate psychology’s role in dealing with society-wide problems that affect young people such as homelessness, domestic violence and unemployment
  • Develop relationships with potential employers through events and workshops with organisations such as children's charities
  • Apply your client-facing skills in meetings with parents and children, with support from trained practitioners
  • Benefit from access to specialist research software and applications including Online Surveys, NVivo, Atlas.ti, SPSS and Mendeley
Careers and opportunities Your knowledge of how the mind affects behavior, coupled with a thorough understanding of the social and biological factors that influence young people’s development, will set you up for a rewarding career working with and supporting young people and children. The opportunity to delve into your preferred childhood and youth studies specialism - from education and teaching, community and youth / family provision, or leadership and enterprise - will ensure you're prepared for the career of your choice. What can you do with a Childhood and Youth Studies with Psychology degree? Areas you can work in include:
  • youth work
  • social work
  • mental health services
  • educational welfare
  • childcare
  • health promotion
  • teaching (as a teaching assistant)
  • psychologist (by taking a postgraduate conversion course, such as a BPS-accredited Master's)
With further training and qualifications, you can also work in:
  • social work
  • psychotherapy and counselling
  • teaching
Our Careers and Employability service can help you find a job that puts your skills to work in the industry. You'll get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.

Modules

Year 1 Core modules in this year include:

  • Becoming a Researcher (20 credits)
  • Child and Youth Development (20 credits)
  • Educational Contexts (20 credits)
  • Introduction to Social Psychology (20 credits)
  • Understanding Childhoods (40 credits)
There are no optional modules in this year. Year 2 Core modules in this year include:
  • Children's Social Minds (20 credits)
  • Professional Practice With Children and Young People (20 credits)
  • Psychological Science (20 credits)
  • Research With Children and Young People (20 credits)
  • Strategies for Social Change (20 credits)
Optional modules in this year include:
  • Development of Learning (20 credits)
  • Empire and Its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa (20 credits)
  • Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences (20 credits)
  • Global Childhoods (20 credits)
  • Global Security (20 credits)
  • Intercultural Perspectives On Communication (20 credits)
  • Marketing & Communication (20 credits)
  • Modernity and Globalisation (20 credits)
  • Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday (L5) (20 credits)
  • News, Discourse, and Media (20 credits)
  • Principles of Economic Crime Investigation (20 credits)
  • Professional Experience L5 (20 credits)
  • Puritans to Postmodernists: American Literature (20 credits)
  • Transitional Justice & Human Rights (20 credits)
  • Understanding Personal Life (20 credits)
  • Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response (20 credits)
Placement year (optional) Have the opportunity to do an additional work placement year after your second or third year on this Connected Degree - we're the only UK university to offer flexible sandwich placements for undergraduates. Year 3 Core modules in this year include:
  • Psychology in Practice (20 credits)
  • Supporting Children and Young People's Mental Health (20 credits)
Optional modules in this year include:
  • Behaviour Matters (20 credits)
  • Dissertation (Childhood Studies) (40 credits)
  • Going Outside: Pedagogies for Outdoor Learning (20 credits)
  • Introduction to Teaching (20 credits)
  • Major Project (40 credits)
  • Professional Experience L6 (20 credits)
  • Professional Themes in Supporting Young People's Relationships and Interactions (20 credits)
  • Therapeutic Play Principles and Practices (20 credits)
  • Working With Looked After Children (20 credits)
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.

Assessment method

You’ll be assessed through a variety of ways, including: essays group and individual presentations and projects exams a dissertation 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. The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows: Year 1 students: 17% by written exams, 7% by practical exams and 76% by coursework Year 2 students: 17% by written exams, 5% by practical exams and 78% by coursework Year 3 students: 33% by written exams and 67% by coursework

How to apply

29Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)

We welcome applications for advanced entry. If you’d like to apply for advanced entry, you need to select the required year when you complete your UCAS application.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

CACHE Diploma (NQF) grade B acceptable on its own, CACHE Level 3 Extended Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce (QCF) grade B acceptable on its own.

Additional entry requirements

Criminal records declaration (DBS/Disclosure Scotland)

Applicants must pass Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting their professional placement working with children and young people. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is for UK Criminal Records checks only. Applicants who have been living overseas for the past 5 years will require an equivalent ‘certificate of good conduct’ from each country they have been resident in, as well as from their home country. The outcome of your DBS or Certificate of Good Conduct will be reviewed by the course team who will make a decision about your suitability to work with children and young people in the UK. Your DBS Certificate Number and date of receipt will be recorded on our Single Central Record

English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
Cambridge English AdvancedCambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
Cambridge English ProficiencyCambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 169 with no component score less than 162.
PTE Academic62An overall score of 62 with a minimum of 59 in each skill.
TOEFL (iBT)7979 with a minimum of 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing.
Trinity ISEPassTrinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
55%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
90%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £9535 Year 1
England £9535 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9535 Year 1
Scotland £9535 Year 1
Wales £9535 Year 1
Channel Islands £9535 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9535 Year 1
International £17200 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship Placement Year and Year abroad (at the time of publishing for 2024/25): UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £1,385 EU – £1,385 (including Transition Scholarship) International (Non-EU) – £2,875. Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice. All fees are subject to annual increase. For more information about fees, go to port.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-fees-and-student-finance/tuition-fees-living-costs-and-other-study-costs
Childhood and Youth Studies with Psychology at University of Portsmouth - UCAS