Why choose the School of Sport, Psychology and Social Science
The Youth Work pathway is validated by the National Youth Agency, providing you with a professional qualification in youth work.
Our links to children/young people’s services extend across Bedfordshire into north London, helping you make connections and find placements.
In the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2025, our social sciences courses rank in the top 10 in their subject field for teaching (3rd); organisation and feedback (6th); and student engagement (6th).
About the course
This 15-month course is specifically for those wanting to work with young people in a variety of settings, giving you the skills and knowledge to pursue or develop your career in youth work. It runs alongside our MA Childhood Youth and Family Studies
You explore the theory, practice, research and policy that underpins children’s, youth and family services while developing your understanding of children’s rights; the ideologies and responsibilities of welfare; and how they are applied.
Course accreditation / industry endorsement
This course with Youth Work pathway is validated by the National Youth Agency, giving you a Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) professional qualification in youth work.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Access to our simulation suites including our brand-new simulation floor that takes you from mock home to hospital, giving you hands-on experience of a range of scenarios you’ll encounter in the real world
- Resources from the National Youth Agency
Industry links
As part of this course, you access the Youth Work Community of Practice network, hosted by the University of Bedfordshire, which brings together youth workers from across Bedfordshire.
Your student experience
Gain hands-on experience on placement, supporting young people in a range of settings and learning the different ways in which youth work is delivered.
Learn from an expert teaching team with a range of professional experience working with children, young people and families.
Attend regular talks by local practitioners and managers involved in working with children and young people.
Follow your interests with a choice of optional units including young people, group offending and violent crime; safeguarding; coaching and mentoring; and social enterprise.
Complete 400 practice hours on placement (paid or voluntary) across nine months (full time) or two years (part time); if you are not currently in practice, we can support you to find a placement.
Explore practice-based issues by joining the University’s Youth Work Community of Practice, open to all students and practitioners in the region.
Challenge yourself by undertaking an independent research project in a subject area of interest.
Course Leader - Dr Tina Salter
I have been teaching youth and community work in a number of educational settings since 2004. I qualified as a youth and community worker in 1994 and have gone on to be awarded a Masters and Professional Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes University. I developed a keen interest in mentoring and coaching as this was an area I specialised when working as a youth work and manager in the area of youth inclusion. Part of my doctoral research looked at comparing different mentoring and coaching disciplines and more recent research suggest that greater opportunities to coach young people using strengths-based approaches might be more effective than depending on older, deficit mentoring models.
Course Leader - Dr Tina Salter
I have been teaching youth and community work in a number of educational settings since 2004. I qualified as a youth and community worker in 1994 and have gone on to be awarded a Masters and Professional Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes University. I developed a keen interest in mentoring and coaching as this was an area I specialised when working as a youth work and manager in the area of youth inclusion. Part of my doctoral research looked at comparing different mentoring and coaching disciplines and more recent research suggest that greater opportunities to coach young people using strengths-based approaches might be more effective than depending on older, deficit mentoring models.
Studying our Childhood, Youth and Family Studies: Youth Work Pathway MA course will provide you with in-depth skills and knowledge around youth work, studies and services with the opportunity to gain industry experience working in the field. As an important part of your work, our unit in Effective and Ethical Practice when Working with Children, Young People and Families, you will learn to build relationships and engage with children, young people and their families within social care, youth work, health, criminal justice and educational settings. Furthermore, you will be introduced to theories of working with people, methods of intervention and practical communication which you will also place in the context of tensions and challenges when it comes to working with those who do not welcome the intervention of professionals. You will also learn of techniques to handle conflict, ambivalence and reluctance while adopting an anti-oppressive and ethical practice when engaging with children, young people and their families. To develop your practice, you will be exposed to contemporary theories around childhood, youth and families while also learning to apply them to relevant scenarios in our Dimensions of Childhood, Youth and Families unit.
More importantly, you will be equipped with the tools to safeguard children and young people, manage risk, and develop as a dynamic professional to work towards the best interests of children, young people and families. In addition, this course allows you to partake in a range of optional units that will give you the opportunity to specialise in your relevant areas of interest. Our unit in Young People, Group Offending and Violent Crime will allow you to analyse research from European and North American settings alongside sociological and criminological theory to explore the nature, extent and impact of violent group offending by young people and how to respond or intervene effectively based on current policy and practice. In doing so, you will also consider the social, economic, political and cultural factors that shape violent group offending. You can also develop key skills in Coaching and Mentoring Practice and understand how this can be applied to a range of professional and private settings.
Furthermore, you may also analyse the nature and contextual dynamics of abuse in adolescence in our Contextual Safeguarding: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Implications unit. Here, you will explore contemporary research to develop your understanding of contextual safeguarding frameworks and its applications in response to extra-familial harm. Aside from this, you may choose to explore Critical Considerations for Relationship and Sex Education as a means to deliver non-judgemental information around sex and relationships to young people that is increasingly needed for the benefit of young people. This unit will introduce you to key concepts around policy and practice to deliver inclusive and rights-based relationship education to children and young people. Alternatively, you can also explore the theories and concepts of social entrepreneurship as well as how to design and implement a social enterprise project or venture in our Social Enterprise unit.
Finally, you will have the opportunity to undertake a youth work placement within a relevant organisation where you will complete 400 hours of practice and develop a portfolio of work alongside this in our Professional Practice Portfolio unit. This experience will allow you to develop in a professional role, foster inclusive practice and build your network and contacts. In areas of research, you will also complete a Dissertation in Childhood, Youth and Family Studies by forming and engaging with a research question formed around your own area of interest relevant to the field. By collaborating with a supervisor, you will conduct original research with help from our units in Research Methods 1: Setting Deep Foundations and Research Methods 2: Design, Data Collection and Ethics. Here, you will be taught to combine policy and data with research evidence to critically analyse a topic of your interest and subsequently propose a research idea that is robustly designed, makes use of data collection methods and is ethically sound.
Assessment aims to enhance the learning experience rather than simply provide academic hurdles to be surmounted. Nonetheless it must offer a reliable test of the student's level of academic attainment. To achieve this the assessment methods used must relate closely to the intended unit learning outcomes as evidenced in the UIFs whilst allowing the student maximum scope for creativity in fulfilling them.
The assessment strategy is intended to enable students to:
- Show originality in the application of knowledge and understand how the boundaries are advanced through research.
- Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively and show originality in tackling and solving problems.
- Have the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement personal responsibility and initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments.
The range of assessment methods to be used will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their competence in a variety of ways reflective of different learning styles and will ensure the focus upon a critical awareness of the literature and the application of knowledge into practice with regard to the current social and political frameworks.
Formative assessment is integrated at the start to allow for a level of reflection. A focus upon the application of theory to policy and practice would be expected within such an award and students will be expected as part of the assessment process to consider the impact of such knowledge on both policy and practice especially via the critical appraisal of case studies and the identification of best practice.
Focus is placed on professional skills and assessing students ability to apply learning to practice. Feedback on assessments and the reflections gained through the portfolio will enable students to critically assess their learning and develop where necessary.
A range of appropriate and effective assessments will enable students to demonstrate their acquisition of knowledge and skills. The assessment methods used across the course include: -
- Written essay assignments: These may vary from concise reviews of current research analysis of case studies to more in depth synthesis and evaluation of broader topics and demonstrate your ability to provide written evaluation and synthesis of - current scholarship.
- Oral presentations: These demonstrate verbal and presentational skills in communicating complex and challenging tasks to others.
- A portfolio: Thhis captures learning in the placement setting will be used for students on the youth work pathway to evidence students application of the national occupational standards for youth work.
- The Dissertation: Allowing you to undertake a complex research project and communicate knowledge findings and recommendations demonstrating your ability to implement and deliver a self directed complex and solution focused professional task.
The assessments will develop incrementally across the course and allow students to gain skills and acquire knowledge receive feedback on their performance thus allowing students to implement knowledge and feedback into subsequent assessments.
There is a progression point with an exam board to confirm students can progress from PG Dip to dissertation stage. At the end of the course the assessments will demonstrate students ability to analyse evaluate and syntheses current knowledge and communicate this knowledge in both written and presentational formats and to demonstrate a range of high level transferable skills attractive to prospective employers and as evidenced in the course learning outcomes.
Careers
This course enables you to enhance your career prospects across professional boundaries by broadening and deepening your knowledge and understanding of the lives of young people and the services available to them. Students often go on to work in areas such as youth work, community development or educational settings, with a specialism that focuses on young people. This course also helps you to progress into more senior positions, further develop your practice or go on to become policy-makers.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £10,000 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £16,900
If you have any questions around fees and funding, please email international@beds.ac.uk
