Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Community Development and Youth Studies (top-up) University of Bolton, UK

The University of Bolton's BA (Hons) Community Development and Youth Studies (top-up) course focuses on academic studies that support the development of knowledge and skills for practice. The course is ideal if you're seeking the flexible and adaptable skills and knowledge needed for a career changing lives by challenging discrimination and oppression through informal social inclusion. It's also a fantastic springboard for master's level or postdoctoral study.

Our passionate and knowledgeable staff will guide you to explore issues such as globalisation and sustainable communities, housing and homelessness, management and leadership in community development and youth work, and the governance and organisational development of public, private and third sector organisations. We'll support you in developing key transferable skills such as communication, self-awareness, time management and critical thinking. The dissertation is an essential element of your honours-level studies and offers an excellent preparation for higher-level study.

Our professionally experienced tutors bring their wealth of on-the-job expertise and practical knowledge into their research, teaching and one-to-one advice, ensuring you can benefit from a wide range of highly informed youth work and community development perspectives. Throughout the course, we'll support and encourage you as you develop your understanding and articulation of the key theories of personal and social change affecting young people and communities today.

Highlights

• Our Childhood and Youth Studies courses are top in the UK for student satisfaction, according to The Complete University Guide 2022.
• The course has been designed in consultation with employers, ensuring the relevance of the skills and knowledge gained by graduates.
• We work with over 70 partners and external agencies such as youth and community centres, schools, alternative education projects, women's refuges and community projects, housing, health, leisure and youth training schemes, resettlement projects, and detached, outreach and mentoring projects. This ensures our course offers a truly holistic view of community development and youth studies and fosters a culture of multi-disciplinary working.
• You have the chance to graduate with a wide range of practical and transferable skills that apply in all kinds of social, professional and academic areas.
• We'll work to help you to develop the high-level skills in research and critical thinking that successful and ambitious professionals use in the analysis of situations, the construction and defence of persuasive arguments, the production of high-quality management reports, and their application of evidence-based practice.

Key Features

• Community development and youth work offers a wide range of rewarding and challenging careers. We'll support you to gain the professional and personal skills to succeed, coaching you in areas like critical thinking, evaluation and analysis, self-reflection, cultural sensitivity and mental resilience.
• We'll also support you in gaining vital academic and lifelong learning skills so that you are well prepared to research innovations, apply your knowledge in new ways, and keep abreast of shifts in policy and practice in community development and youth work throughout your career.
• We prefer to keep seminar and practical classes relatively small so that you have plenty of opportunities to ask us questions and get help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
• We're committed to helping you develop your employability and career network. You'll be encouraged to attend guest lectures and undertake volunteering activities that enhance your learning, help you make contacts in the industry, and contribute to your professional development.
• You'll have access to excellent academic and pastoral support from teaching staff who are also experienced professionals in community development and youth work.
• Specialists in the field of community development and youth work join us as guest speakers and lecturers throughout the course.
• xBy choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.