3.5-Term Pathway - Foundation Certificate in Social Sciences - Continue to Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Childhood Studies (Placement Year)

Program Description For students who've finished high school but don’t meet the entry requirements for university, a Foundation Certificate can help them gain entry to an undergraduate degree. After completing this pathway option students qualify for progression to the 1st year of an undergraduate degree at the University of Essex.

A student’s course length is determined mainly by their English language level (UKVI IELTS score). Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. Students taking a course longer than 2 terms, will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Childhood Studies

Childhood studies is a vibrant and exciting field which 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. Students gain a solid understanding of child development, 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. Students will also learn about the direct work with children through undertaking a placement in each year of study where they can begin to make links between theory and practice. Assessment is mainly by course work.

Topics include:

• Psychosocial approaches • Child development • Attachment theory • ADHD, developmental trauma and Autism • Criminological approaches • Play and infant observation • The social history of childhood • Children in literature • Therapeutic work in groups • Wellbeing and resilience • Psychodynamics of teaching, learning • Therapeutic work groups

The Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies is internationally recognized as one of the leading departments for work on the role of the unconscious mind in mental health, as well as in culture and society more generally. They’re ranked top 10 in the UK for research (REF, 2014) and consistently receive high student satisfaction scores..