Skip to main content
Panoramic collage of university campus architecture

BA (Hons) Childhood Studies

University of Essex, United Kingdom
Save

Course Overview

Children today face a wide range of new and challenging experiences, including unprecedented access to media, wider cultural diversity, online bullying, and larger school numbers. Their early experiences of childhood affect them for the rest of their lives. You can make a positive contribution to these formative years.

Childhood studies is a vibrant and exciting field that has expanded in recent years to include knowledge from psychology, sociology, and psychoanalysis. This course lays the foundations for a career working with infants and children, whether in education, health care, or children’s services. You gain a solid understanding of child development, and the ecology of childhood (the place of children in different societies) and consider the way our concepts of childhood shape and condition children’s lives. You will also learn about the direct work with children through undertaking a placement in each year of study where you can begin to make links between theory and practice. Assessment is mainly by coursework.

General Eligibility

UK entry requirements

A-levels: BBC

BTEC: DDM, depending on the subject studied - advice on acceptability can be provided.

IB: 29 points or three Higher Level certificates with 554.

We are also happy to consider a combination of separate IB Diploma Programmes at both Higher and Standard Levels. Exact offer levels will vary depending on the range of subjects being taken at higher and standard levels, and the course applied for. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for more information.

Access to HE Diploma: 6 level 3 credits at Distinction and 39 level 3 credits at Merit

International & EU entry requirements

We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.

Part Time Work Details

20 hours per week.

What You'll Study

1 Year 1

COMPONENT 01: CORE

Introduction to Childhood Studies

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 02: CORE

Perspectives in Child Development

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 03: COMPULSORY

Placement-Based Observation Skills and Reflective Practice

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 04: COMPULSORY

Assignment and Research Writing for Psychoanalytic Studies

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY

Understanding Individuals Groups and Organisations: An Introduction to Psychodynamic Concepts

(15 CREDITS)

2 Year 2

COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY

Professional Practice in Careers with Children

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 02: COMPULSORY

Wild Things: Literature, Childhood, Psychoanalysis

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 03: CORE

Safeguarding and Ethical Practice

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 04: CORE

Infant Observation

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY

Psychoanalysis and the Child

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 06: CORE

The Social History of Childhood

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 07: COMPULSORY

Developmental Trauma, Autism, and ADHD

(15 CREDITS)

3 Year 3

COMPONENT 01: CORE

Childhood Wellbeing: Play, Socialisation, and Resilience

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 02: CORE

Teaching and Learning with Children: A Psychosocial Approach

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 03: CORE

Dissertation (Childhood Studies)

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 04: COMPULSORY

Childhood Inc.: Disney and the Globalization of Childhood

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY

Childhood Innocence and Deviance

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 06: OPTIONAL

Option(s) from list

(30 CREDITS)

Language Requirement

  • IELTS6.0
  • TOEFL78
  • PTE58
  • Duolingo79

If you do not require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK then we will assess your English language proficiency/ability at your interview or audition.

If your first language is not English and you are an international student that requires a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK then you will need IELTS 6.0 overall, with 5.5 in each component.

Ready to get started?

For any enquiries or further details, please don't hesitate to contact us. Let's take the next step in your academic journey together.

Contact Us
Call
WhatsApp
Email