Skip navigation
Early Childhood Studies with Graduate Practitioner Competencies with a Foundation Year at Birmingham City University - UCAS

Birmingham City University

Degree level: Undergraduate

Early Childhood Studies with Graduate Practitioner Competencies with a Foundation Year

Course options

Course summary

Are you passionate about supporting children to get the very best start in life? Our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies course seamlessly combines theory with practical experience, so that you can achieve your career goals and make a positive impact on young lives. Foundation Year The BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies with a Foundation Year course has been specifically designed to support your transition to degree-level study in Education. As a student, you will undertake a foundation year situated at level 3 study, which has been designed as a prelude to your chosen degree course, providing opportunities for you to develop your knowledge, skills and understanding. Your learning journey through your foundation year will provide a secure platform on which you can build throughout your academic career in higher education. As part of the foundation year, you will explore and develop a number of essential academic, interpersonal and professional skills that will help you succeed in your future degree level studies. Your foundation year includes three core modules and three subject pathway modules. On successful completion of your foundation year, you are guaranteed to progress on to the first year of the BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies degree. If you are interested in progressing on to one of our other Education and Social Work degrees, this will be subject to space available on those courses and on meeting the relevant entry requirements, which may include passing an interview. What's covered in this course? Gaining knowledge and understanding of babies’ and young children’s developmental, wellbeing and learning needs is a common theme throughout the course. You will build the skills and knowledge necessary to enable you to meet those needs and discover how you can respond in creative, reflective and analytical ways to issues relating to early childhood, being mindful of the need to adopt a resourceful approach. As well as learning about policy, practice, and provision within the field of Early Childhood, we will encourage you to become a graduate who is outward-looking with an awareness of global issues that relate to the field of Early Childhood. We will support you to develop your personal and professional skills, including your resilience, to become self-assured and assertive so that you can be influential in developing practice, policy, and provision in your future career. We provide you with a supportive and nurturing learning environment, which will enable you to take risks as you explore and find out new things about early childhood, as well as yourself. Our aim is for you to be confident to meet the challenges of a changing society, and competent as a researcher in gathering and analysing data to evaluate and plan for change. You will have the opportunity to become a graduate who can demonstrate a real commitment to the youngest and sometimes most vulnerable citizens in our society, with the ability to manage change and lead others effectively to make a positive impact on babies, young children, and their families.


How to apply

Application codes

Course code:
X32F
Institution code:
B25
Campus name:
City South Campus, Edgbaston
Campus code:
E

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Foundation

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Welsh Baccalaureate: 80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications. OCR Cambridge Technical qualifications: 80 UCAS tariff points. NCFE CACHE Level 3 qualifications: 80 UCAS tariff points. Accepted subjects: Childcare and Education; Children's Care, Learning and Development; Children and Young People's Workforce; Health and Social Care; Early Years Education and Care. WJEC Level 3 qualifications: 80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualification(s). Upon completion of your foundation year, you will be required to obtain an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance via the Faculty and an Occupational Health Check, in order to proceed onto year one of the full degree programme.


English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6overall with no less than 5.5 in each band

If you do not meet the required IELTS score, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English courses. Please note that you must have a Secure English Language Test (SELT) to study on the pre-sessional English course.


Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
60%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
75%
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

England £5760 Year 1
Northern Ireland £5760 Year 1
Scotland £5760 Year 1
Wales £5760 Year 1
EU £17690 Year 1
International £17690 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

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study, which is a foundation year. If you progress to the degree upon completion of your foundation year, the standard undergraduate tuition fee for 2026/27 will apply. Fees for 2025/26 can be found on the relevant course page, but please note that University reserves the right to increase fees in subsequent years in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. The minimum fee for regulated courses in 2026/27 is expected to be £9,535.
Early Childhood Studies with Graduate Practitioner Competencies with a Foundation Year at Birmingham City University - UCAS