Program Overview

• Excellent preparation if you want to become a teacher, or keep your options open for other careers in educational services
• Gain the skills to work with young people in a wide range of settings
• Voluntary work with children and young people in your second year counts towards academic credit
• Choose from an extensive range of modules around your own developing specialist areas of interest
• Learn from passionate and dedicated staff in a community of knowledge

If you aspire to teach or work with young people, this fascinating programme prepares you for a rewarding career in a variety of roles. It also arms you with the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and contribute to the education and lives of young people.

Understanding education as a lever for social and political change, this course combines the study of education in its broadest sense – from philosophical, political, historical, sociological and cultural perspectives – with the exploration of a variety of policies and practices relevant to the lives of young people, their families and communities.

A Foundation Year is the perfect way to boost your academic skills, build your confidence and develop your wider subject knowledge so you can succeed at Winchester. This course offers an extra year of study at the start (Year 0) which leads onto a full degree programme (Years 1, 2 and 3).

A Foundation Year is ideal if you are returning to education after a break; haven’t quite achieved the entry qualifications required; are wanting more support during the transition to studying at university; or are unsure about which subject you wish to pursue.

In Year 0, you will study a set of modules from across the Faculty of Education which are designed to develop your academic and practical skills. This broader focus in your first year introduces you to studying at university level and provides you with a better understanding of Education and Youth Studies and related subjects.

You will experience a variety of teaching methods including lectures, discussion-based seminars and independent study. You will also receive support to boost your academic skills to prepare you for the rest of your time at Winchester. Find out more and hear from our Foundation Year students at winchester.ac.uk/foundation

In Year 1, core modules such as Literacies in Higher Education, Educators, Development in Childhood and Adolescence and Understanding Inequality, introduce key concepts and skills.

Social and Political Thought, and Social Research are core modules in Year 2, and you also choose from a range of progressive, optional modules such as: Technology and Education, Constructing Identity, and Social Inclusion and Exclusion.

In your final year, you may choose from cutting-edge modules including Gender Roles in Schools; Inclusion and Refugees, Deconstructing Philosophies of Education, and Young People’s Mental Health. You also complete your dissertation by exploring in-depth an area of special interest to you.