Adults and pupils in an early years setting.

Year of study

2025

Key details

Start date(s)
September 2025
Location
Main Campus (Horsforth)
School
Children, Young People and Families
UCAS tariff points
48
Study Mode
Full-time (4 years)
Study abroad
Yes

Do you want to make a difference to the lives of children and their families?

Working with Children, Young People and Families addresses the increasing demands faced by contemporary families, such as the effects of social media, poverty, social injustice, safeguarding issues and changing family structures.

This four-year course includes an initial full-time Foundation Year and offers an alternative route into university and gaining a degree.

This route is for you if you do not have the necessary qualifications or don’t yet feel ready to begin degree-level study, or are returning to education and would like some support to get up to speed with learning in a university setting.

The Foundation Year in Education and Childhood will allow you to develop your academic skills and confidence as well as introduce you to key concepts, debates and skills that will support and inform your subsequent years of undergraduate study.

Following successful completion of your Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto Year 1 of our Working with Children, Young People and Families BA (Hons) degree.

The Student Contract

About this course

During your Foundation Year, you will undertake modules to enable you to enhance your academic skills and equip you with the tools you’ll need to study with confidence. You’ll carry out a personal project so you can study an area of interest related to your chosen future subject specialisation.

You’ll develop your understanding of the disciplines, issues and academic theories of working with children, young people and families and will
be introduced to learning and teaching in an educational context, considering current trends and academic theories.

Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto the first year of our Working with Children, Young People and Families BA (Hons) degree.

In the UK today, research indicates that a high proportion of children live in circumstances of unmet needs. The financial cost of addressing these needs can be reduced if addressed preventatively. Equally, if parents are unsupported this can have a 'knock-on' impact on children and young people’s development and future outcomes. The importance of supporting the ‘whole’ family has clear implications for practitioners and the government alike. 

This programme will equip you with the ability to understand what effective practice with families looks like and consider the difficulties and challenges of working with children and families, including recognising and challenging social injustices, valuing and respecting diversity and investigating the impact of social and family policy. 

You’ll study aspects of child development, looking at how society understands the concept of family and the rights of children. You’ll also look at the complex issue of safeguarding children, considering as a practitioner the current law and policy initiatives to understand how we can protect children. 

We’ll explore the range of problems that families can face while children are growing up, examining not only the approaches needed to support and empower families but also the range of skills and therapeutic interventions needed for families.

Throughout your course, you’ll have the opportunity to visit professional practitioners in a range of settings to support your knowledge and understanding of concepts.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have developed the key professional skills needed for assessing and intervening in children’s lives and an understanding of the complexities of multi-agency working.

Why study with us?

  • Get hands-on practical experience of how children, youth and family services work when you complete professional work placements as part of your degree.
  • Learn from the experts. Our lecturers are active researchers and experienced practitioners, with extensive experience in the field of child and family work.
  • Develop the skills and knowledge to enter a wide range of professional roles in child, youth and family work.
Teacher or CYPF student working with building blocks.

Course modules

You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Foundation Year

During your Foundation Year, you'll study four core modules.

Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence - Core

We'll help you develop core academic skills such as using electronic resources, planning and note-taking, communication skills related to essay and report writing and delivering presentations.

You'll learn to manage your time, prioritise tasks and manage stress, and become more confident in engaging with collaborative learning, debates, discussions and critical reflection.

General Studies and Project - Core

You’ll study topics that will allow you to expand your view of society and enhance your life skills.

Towards the end of the module, you’ll study an area of interest related to your chosen degree.

You’ll work individually on your project, whether that's a written report, a presentation and oral examination, a film or a series of blog posts.

You’ll undertake problem-solving learning, and formative feedback and support will be provided throughout, helping develop your self-confidence.

Introduction to Children and Families - Core

Develop your understanding of the disciplines, issues and academic theories of working with children, young people and families.

You'll explore areas such as childhood development, socialisation, family diversity and the influence of poverty, and the support available in social and educational contexts.

We focus on collaborative learning, so you will be encouraged to share your thoughts and opinions in debates and work with your fellow students.

Introduction to Education: Learning and Teaching - Core

You'll focus on how education is provided in the UK.

Explore the early year and primary education phases, studying concepts such as learning, pedagogy, and assessment.

You'll look at ways effective learning can be promoted in the context of equality and inclusion, covering creativity, play, problem-solving and the use of technology.

We'll also explore educational policies and frameworks such as teachers' standards in the UK.

Year 1

During your first year, you will study five core modules.

Working with Families - Core

Apprentices will explore effective practice with children and families within the theoretical and policy context of modern family intervention in this module.

The module emphasises systematic and considered approaches, delving into the paramountcy of children’s welfare, national and local policies, and values in anti-oppressive practice.

Apprentices will develop communication skills, assess family dynamics, critically evaluate media representations, and gain an international perspective, emphasising professional and academic communication with consistent referencing styles.

Sociology and Psychology of Childhood - Core

Get an introduction to fundamental concepts used in social sciences and childhood studies.

You'll use basic analytical tools from sociology, family studies and childhood studies to study the national and international context of children, young people, families and communities.

Safeguarding and Child Protection - Core

Explore safeguarding and protecting children.

You'll consider current legislation and policy along with relevant current research findings.

You'll engage with current procedures and understand the frameworks practitioners are expected to operate within.

We'll make specific reference to the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the current statutory frameworks.

You'll learn the different categories of abuse and develop the expertise outlined in current policies and legislation.

Ethics, social justice and cultural differences will be a theme running through this study.

Health and Wellbeing - Core

You’ll examine the concept of health including its contribution to wellbeing, using theory and research to explore factors that have both a positive and negative impact on family health.

You’ll learn the contribution of health education and health promotion, and identify positive approaches that facilitate family health improvements.

Academic Skills, Personal and Professional Development - Core

In the first semester, you'll get to know about university and academic life at Leeds Trinity University.

You'll develop self-confidence, motivation and team-working skills.

Find out about different kinds of assignments and grading criteria.

We'll also teach you how to reference your work and show you how we check for plagiarism.

You'll develop your time management, critical thinking, digital and independent study skills, and find out how to make the most of your tutors.

In the second semester, we'll focus on your personal and professional development.

You'll consider ethical, sustainability and social justice issues related to work.

You'll develop employability, digital, and money management skills.

Find out about local, regional, national and global issues relevant to the professional sector.

Plan for your future career and development, and improve your study skills and module marks.

Year 2

During your second year, you will study five core modules.

Trauma-informed and Responsive Practices - Core

You’ll be introduced the approaches of trauma informed and responsive, relational and restorative practices employed across a myriad of service provision contexts as well as in education.

Learn about the principles of trauma informed practice and the theory underpinning this. You’ll be presented multiple models of trauma-informed practices employed on an individual and whole system level. This will include links to the impact of inequalities on specific communities who have experience exclusionary practices.

We’ll enable you to develop responses in practice to children and young people with experiences of trauma, distinguishing between various responses to find appropriate ways of working with trauma experienced children and young people in an inclusionary manner.

You’ll focus on developing the practice needed to address the needs of trauma experienced children and young people in various service and educational contexts.

Violence in the Family: Addressing Needs and Risks - Core

Consider the impact that violence in the family has on the person experiencing it and on others living in the household, including children and young people.

You'll explore and analyse different theories and responses to this social problem.

You'll learn about family violence in the context of culture and ethnicity, and across the life course, from babies to the elderly.

You'll also look at the professional responses to addressing needs and risks, and make links between theory and practice in the national and international context.

Research Methods and Evidence Based Practice - Core

Explore a series of research methods, including their key features, usefulness and application in different contexts.

You'll critically examine research methodologies, with an emphasis on ethical research conduct.

You'll evaluate the usefulness of research methodologies to explore specific research questions, problems and designs.

You'll reflect on ethical issues relating to children, families, communities and professional settings.

You'll understand how to design, conduct and write up research, and understand the relationship between research, policy and practice.

Professional Placement - Core

There are three stages to the module - preparation, work placement and reflection.

You'll have workshops to develop your employability skills, analyse your career prospects and go through the practicalities of getting and undertaking a professional placement.

You'll complete a short weekly reflective log reflecting upon the practical skills gained through your placement experience and what you have learnt about applying theoretical understanding in practice.

Sustainability of Children’s Rights - Core

Examine key national legislation and national/international principles relating to policy for children and families, including the impact of key perspectives on children’s rights and the UNCRC.

Explore key tensions and complexities involved in the legal construction of children in national and international policy. You’ll have the opportunity to critically explore tensions and complexities reflected in legislation and policy, particularly contemporary tensions between English law and the UNCRC.

Reflect critically on the different constructions of children present in law and the way in which law both reflects and influences wider social, cultural, political and localised practices.

Year 3

During your final year, you will study five core modules.

Difficulties Families Face with Therapeutic Interventions - Core

Explore problems contemporary families may face and the service support available locally and nationally, focussing on parental empowerment.

You'll critique the role of the government and the conflict between family rights and state intervention.

We'll then look at therapeutic support for families.

You'll study therapeutic interventions and associated theoretical approaches.

You'll make links between theory and practice, looking at research from national and international perspectives.

Professional Learning Through Work - Core

You'll develop a theoretical understanding through practical work-based development in of your chosen context, this could be in a public, private or community sector.

Children, Young People and the Justice System - Core
Research Project - Core

Complete an independent investigation or undertake a work-based project.

You'll apply the principles and practices introduced in the Research Methods module at Level 5.

You'll get the opportunity to extend your engagement with employers.

Once you have identified an area of inquiry, you can do a practical investigation, theoretical study or work-based project in negotiation with an employer.

You'll inform your investigation or project with a selected literature review and gather evidence with due regard to ethical concerns and international contexts, where appropriate.

Therapeutic Interventions with Children and Families - Core

Demonstrate your knowledge, skills and understanding of a specific and identified need from a practice-based scenario by planning a range of therapeutic approaches and interventions for a child, small group children or a family.

Negotiate your own chosen area of need, support or development gaps that you will specialise in.

You’ll discuss and critique a range of intervention strategies, incremental planning and associated theoretical approaches.

Professional work placements

Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within the majority of our standard undergraduate degrees.

How does it work?

Careers and Placements will work with you to find a placement or help you to arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.

During your placement, you could have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.

Our students have worked as family support workers, learning mentors and teaching assistants in settings including children and youth centres, police domestic violence units, youth offending teams, special educational needs, schools, nurseries, social services and charities both in the UK and overseas.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Professional Work Placements

Learning and teaching

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.

For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk

Programme delivery

Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.

Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:

  1. Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
  2. Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
  3. Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.

Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.

Learning and teaching

At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

  • high quality teaching
  • an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
  • a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

  • Student Involvement and Engagement
  • Inclusion
  • Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
  • Digital Literacy and Skills
  • Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

  • Personalised support
  • Expert lecturers
  • Strong connections with employers
  • An international outlook
  • Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Entry requirements

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.

Entry requirements for this course:
QualificationGrade
UCAS tariff48
GCSE requirementsGCSE English Language or English Literature at grade C or 4 (or higher) will be required

 

Applications are welcome from mature students with few formal qualifications.

 

Any previous relevant work experience and learning will be assessed and, where appropriate, we may offer an alternative way to assess suitability to study.

 

This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.

 

Fees and finance

UK Home fees £9,250 per year
Full-time

Funding

UK Home Students:

Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2023/2024.

Part-time tuition fees will be prorated accordingly to the number of credits you're studying.

Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.

Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.

Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.

Additional costs

We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees. These include:

  • Books - recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
  • Print costs - the University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.

How to apply

For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.

On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.

You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.

Applications are now open for courses starting in September 2025. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2025 is 29 January 2025.

There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our admissions team who will be happy to help:

This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.

Graduate opportunities

Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.

Our graduates are working in areas including youth services, police domestic violence units, educational settings, charities, therapeutic services, childcare settings and on youth offending teams. You may choose to pursue a career as a family support worker or undertake postgraduate research. Graduates from this course have gone on to train as social workers by studying for an MA Social Work degree, or via a Social Work Apprenticeship or fast track social work route.

After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.

To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:

Careers

Meet the team

Children, Young People and Families Mike Dessington
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Children, Young People and Families Amanda Jefferson
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Children, Young People and Families Sarah Flanagan
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Primary Education Salik Miah
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Children, Young People and Families Edward Noon
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