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What makes the BSc (Hons) Children and Young People's Mental Health at the University of Worcester special?

This course explores how and why children, young people, and families experience mental health and well-being difficulties and conditions.

You will explore factors that impact mental health from pre-birth to adulthood and ways to support positive mental health improvement in well-being through the use of therapeutic solutions and evidence-based practice.

This course is particularly appropriate to you if you are or aspire to be a children and young peoples professional in a field such as education, early years, health and social care, social work, nursing and child mental health. 

The modules you will study will prepare you for a range of roles in support services and communities for children and young people. You'll graduate with an honours degree, which will boost your career prospects in any setting with children, young people and their families where mental health and well-being is a focus. Successful completion of the BSc will also provide access to a range of postgraduate study in health, social care and psychology.

The BSc Children and Young People's Mental Health is available with a Foundation Year for those who may have few or no relevant formal qualifications but who can demonstrate a clear commitment to pursuing a career in the field of health and social care specific to children and young people.

*subject to approval.

Overview

Overview

Key Features

  • You will work with a specialist team of academics, professional practitioners and work-based learning tutors with a range of expertise and experience relevant to children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
  • With support, you will identify a suitable placement to complete three practice placement modules to apply your skills and knowledge in an area of practice that interests you. As part of this you will complete a minimum of 100 hours a year in placement to enhance your employability.
  • You will examine evidence based mental health approaches and apply them to your work-based learning experiences and assessments.
  • You will develop and enhance your self-awareness and interpersonal skills alongside gaining an insight into the importance of evidence-based practice within mental health.
  • This course has an option to study on a part time basis to fit around your other responsibilities and commitments.
  • An optional Foundation Year is built into the programme for applicants with UCAS Tariff of 32 and above.
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Entry requirements

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements

The Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing BSc (Hons) requires a suggested UCAS tariff of 104-112 points.

The Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing BSc (Hons) with Foundation Year requires 32 UCAS Tariff points.

Applicants wishing to enter the course at Level 6 should have completed  Level 4 & Level 5 in relevant course area.

You should be at least 18 years old and normally have GCSE English at grade c/4 or above, and 1 A Level (or equivalent Level 3 qualification). However, all applicants will be judged on their individual merits and we may take other skills, qualifications and life experience into account. 

The BSc in Children and Young People's Mental Health with Foundation Year course is aimed at individuals who may have few or no relevant formal qualifications but who can demonstrate a clear commitment to pursuing a career in the field of health and social care specific to children and young people. Personal, professional, and educational experiences will be considered to determine motivation and ability to progress onto the degree course.

All applicants are required to complete:

  • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check*
  • Occupational Health Checks

**All information will be treated in confidence and only taken into account when absolutely necessary

Course content

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

Foundation year

Mandatory

  • Essential skills for Learning in Healthcare
  • Science for Healthcare
  • Health and Wellbeing in Today’s Society
  • Becoming a Healthcare professional

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Children, Young People and Families –Mental Health and Wellbeing
  • Introduction to mental health difficulties
  • Integrated practice- values ethics and safeguarding.
  • Introduction to Professional Practice and Academic Skills
  • Therapeutic communication with children, young people and families
  • Creative arts and mental health and wellbeing

Year 2

Mandatory

  • Mental Health Promotion and Early Intervention with Children, Young People and Families  Working with vulnerability
  • Working with Vulnerability
  • Integrated Working and Professional Practice (including placement)
  • Research Methods
  • Creative and Contemporary Ways of Working with Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing

Optional

  • Working with Families and Systemic Practice
  • Early Years, infant mental health

Year 3

Mandatory

  • Dissertation Independent Study
  • Therapeutic Interventions for Children, Young People and Families
  • Professional Practice: Leadership and Management
  • The rights of children and young people – participation and empowerment 

Optional

  • Cognitive Behavioural Approaches
  • The Impact of Childhood Trauma 
  • Domestic Abuse
  • Substance Misuse 
Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars practical activities, etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practicals are focused on developing subject-specific skills and applied for individual and group project work. Most teaching sessions are face to face on campus although a blended approach will be taken. Lectures or lecture workshops for some modules will be delivered online either ‘live’ or pre-recorded.

Each work-based learning module requires the completion of a minimum of 100 hours of work-based learning. Students will identify and apply for placement in an area of relevant practice that interests them. The timing of practice-based learning will allow for some flexibility, although it is essential that certain parameters are met to ensure opportunities to link university-based learning to practice, facilitate reflection on work-based learning and ensure that assessment deadlines can be met.

In addition, meetings with Personal Academic Tutors (PATs) are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support from Student Services and Library Services, and also the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will help you to flourish and be successful.

Contact time

In a typical week, students will have around 10 hours of contact teaching, of this, 7 hours will be delivered on-campus and 3 hours will be delivered online. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year you will normally have slightly less contact time in order to complete more independent study.

A minimum of 7 hours per week in a placement, work-based learning setting is also part of your learning contact time.

In a typical week, for part-time students studying 60 credits, they will have around 4 hours of contact teaching, of this, 3-4 hours will be delivered on-campus and 1-2 hours will be delivered online.

Typically, on-campus contact time will be structured around:

  • Lectures and seminars
  • Workshops
  • Group work
  • Problem-based learning
  • Skills development workshops

Online contact hours will be structured around:

  • Group tutorials based on focused activities
  • Assessment workshops
  • Lectures

For students taking the Foundation Year on a full-time basis your contact time is likely to be a minimum of 12 hours per week. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year you will normally have slightly less contact time in order to do more independent study. Typically contact time will be structured around:

  • 2 hours of interactive workshops
  • 2 hours of (large group) lectures
  • 6 hours of seminars in groups of around 12 students
  • 2 hours of personal development.

Independent self study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 25 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for examinations.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including The Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Duration

  • 3 years full-time
  • 4-6 years part-time

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience. 

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments.

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. Assessment methods include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and a final year independent studies project.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

  • Essays
  • Practical reports
  • Individual or group presentations
  • Practice portfolio and project
  • Completion of practice hours

Year 2

  • Reflective and skills portfolio relating to work placement
  • Essays
  • Practical project and report
  • Individual or group presentations

Year 3

  • Major independent study project
  • Essays
  • Practical reports
  • Individual or group presentations.
  • Completion of practice hours

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by . Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Careers

Careers

Graduates of our Children and Young People’s Mental Health BSc can expect greater employability and enhanced promotion prospects. Completing this course is excellent preparation for future employment opportunities in education, social care and health settings. You'll be ideally suited to work in roles in statutory, voluntary and private organisations.

Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £9,535 per year.

For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2025/26 academic year is £16,700 per year.

For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The Government has announced that it will increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by 3.1% from the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 the tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees will be £1,190.83 per 15-credit module, £1,587.77 per 20-credit module, £2,381.66 per 30-credit module, £3,175.55 per 40-credit module, £3,572.50 per 45-credit module and £4,763.32 per 60 credit module.

For more details on course pages, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

How to apply

How to apply

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

Part time applications can be made directly to the University using our online application form.

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