This course is subject to validation.
What does this mean?
If you’ve already completed a foundation degree or similar qualification in Education, Early Childhood Studies, or Teaching and Learning Support, this is your opportunity to take the next step in your career. Our BA (Hons) Education Studies with Early Years (Top Up) degree allows you to build on your existing knowledge and graduate with a full honours degree focused on early years practice and education in today’s society.
Throughout this one-year course, you’ll deepen your understanding of key themes shaping early years education nationally and internationally. You’ll explore areas such as equality, diversity, leadership and management, social justice, policy, and contemporary issues in early childhood. This critical insight will help you understand how early years provision influences, and is influenced by, the wider educational landscape.
Work-based learning is a central element of the course, giving you the chance to apply early years theory directly within real educational settings. Whether you use your current workplace, return to a familiar environment, or choose a new placement, we’ll support you in finding an opportunity that enhances your professional development. This practical experience is strengthened by expert guidance from tutors with extensive industry experience, helping you connect theory to meaningful practice.
You’ll benefit from a personalised, supportive learning environment, including small class groups and a dedicated personal tutor. Through research inquiries based on issues that matter to you within early years settings, you’ll develop your analytical and critical thinking skills, key qualities for anyone looking to progress within the early years sector.
Delivered via flexible distance learning, this Top Up degree allows you to study at times that suit your lifestyle and commitments. By the end of the course, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge, confidence, and specialist early years expertise to advance your career or take the next step into postgraduate study.
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Throughout the course, you’ll complete practical placements in early years settings, giving you valuable hands-on experience. You’ll have the flexibility to choose a placement with an institution or organisation you’re already familiar with, or we can support you in finding a new one. If you’re currently working in an early years setting, your job can even count as your placement.
Our industry-experienced tutors will guide you, providing a solid academic foundation to enhance your practical learning. You’ll explore key topics in early years education, teaching, and learning, while gaining both national and international perspectives on education.
Online learning at the University of Cumbria is an interactive experience that makes use of a range of technologies and media types to provide a rich learning environment.
Find out moreAn Open Day is your opportunity to explore one of 5 campuses, meet your lecturers, and find out how the University of Cumbria could become your new home.
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