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What makes Education and Development FdA with Specialist Pathways with the Somerset Centre for Integrated Learning special?

Based in the South-West, this programme is run by the Somerset Centre for Integrated Learning.

Knowledgeable and effective practitioners are vital in supporting children to develop their learning and achieve their potential. This new and innovative degree is designed for people who are working in, or who aspire to work with children as a teaching assistant, special needs assistant, cover supervisor, HLTA or outdoor learning practitioner.

The Foundation Degree in Education and Development offer pathways of specialisation in Teaching and Learning, SEND or Outdoors Learning.

Whilst studying this foundation degree you will explore factors from the perspectives of both young people and practitioners that can influence learning and development as well as how the environment and curriculum supports development. As a result, you will have the knowledge and skills needed to make a significant difference to learners’ outcomes.

This programme has been developed to draw and build upon prior experience and skills to support you in discovering fresh insights.

Overview

Overview

Key features

  • Opportunities to develop key skills and knowledge to prepare for further study and/or employment to improve practice and gain promotion e.g. HLTA, cover supervisor, social work assistant, children’s home support worker, outdoor learning lead (in EY/primary setting), outdoor learning practitioner (in an outdoor learning setting).
  • Opportunity to combine studying and learning on the job. Students are expected to spend at least 10 hours a week in a setting, either as a member of staff or on a voluntary basis.
  • Further optional vocational training opportunities, which may incur an additional fee, are available that would support continuing professional development depending on the chosen pathway.
  • Diverse and rich range of settings in Somerset Authority incorporating visits, as appropriate within the delivery schedule relative to the specific pathway, such as a visit to a Special School or Kilve Court Outdoor Learning Centre.
  • Step towards acquiring a full honours degree in the future, with top-up options available in Worcester and the Southwest. Completion of the Foundation Degree will enable students to progress to the BA Hons in Professional Practice which takes one year to complete.
  • The full honours degree opens up the possibility of a route in to teaching, social work, applying for a full master’s degree. Applicants will need to check their existing GCSEs to ensure that they meet those that are required for potential career progression.
Entry requirements

Entry requirements

32
UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

32 UCAS Points

The normal minimum entry requirement for Foundation Degree courses is the possession of 4 GCSEs (Grade C/4 or above) and 1 A Level (or equivalent Level 3 qualification).

For mature students (i.e. 21 or over), without formal qualifications, a non-standard entry route is available. Candidates are encouraged to apply if they feel they can benefit from the programme; such applicants will be considered on the basis of relevant work experience and attainment of skills, which demonstrate an ability to study at this level.

T Levels may be used to meet the entry tariff requirements for this course. Find out more about T levels as UCAS tariff points here.

Other information

All successful applicants will be invited to attend a selection day prior to the start of the course. This gives you an opportunity to meet tutors, others students and find out more information about the course. Applicants will be asked to prepare a short piece of writing prior to the session and will be required to participate in a short group discussion to assess articulation of ideas and the ability to consider and respond to the views of others.

Students will be required to have an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check in place before starting the course or at the latest by the beginning of October as it is a requirement for this course that all students will be in a relevant work environment, either as a paid member of staff or on a voluntary basis for at least 10 hours per week. Students will not be able to commence practice until Enhanced DBS clearance is confirmed.

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk for advice.

Further information about the UCAS Tariff can be obtained from http://www.ucas.com

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. 

Year 1

Mandatory modules:

  • 1001: Understanding our Academic, Professional and Personal selves
  • 1002: Keeping Children Safe in Education
  • 1003: Learning and Development
  • 1004: SEND: Inclusive Practice
  • 1005: Introduction to Carrying Out Research

In addition, you will study one of the following mandatory modules relevant you your individual pathway:

  • 1007 Teaching and Learning Pathway: The Creative Curriculum
  • 1006 SEND Pathway: Identification of Special Education Needs – the Graduated Response
  • 1008 Outdoor Learning Pathway: The Benefits of Outdoor Learning

Year 2

Mandatory modules:

  • 2001: Reflective Journal
  • 2005: Partnership Working
  • 2006: A Systematic Approach to Answering a Research Question
  • 2007: Behaviour for Learning

In addition, you will study the following mandatory modules relevant you your individual pathways:

  • 2003 Teaching and Learning Pathway: Teaching and learning in the primary phase – the core curriculum
  • 2009 Teaching and Learning Pathway: Planning, Assessing and Evaluating Learning
  • 2002 SEND pathway: Barriers to Learning – Lived Experience
  • 2008 SEND pathway: Assess, Plan, Review, Do in Practice
  • 2004 Outdoors Learning pathway: Applying the Principles of Environmental Science – Biodiversity and Interdependence of All Living Things
  • 2010 Outdoors Learning Pathway: Perspectives in Outdoor Education – Forest School and Beach School
Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

Location of teaching

There is an agreement between UW and SCIL to deliver the course leading to a foundation degree. The partnership between SCIL and the University of Worcester is reviewed on a scheduled basis. The partnership review was last reviewed in the academic year 2020 to 2021, with an agreed six year partnership.

The delivery of sessions will take place at SCIL’s new venue Broughton House in Taunton TA12PR. The new venue is well suited for the course with multiple training rooms, and a library which students can utilise at all times. In addition to this, Broughton House is easily accessible being that it is just off Junction 25 of the M5. There are lots of facilities available in the area such as park and ride and a train station, as well as shops and places to eat. SCIL are very excited for this new chapter which is well underway.

For students on the Outdoor Learning route, some sessions will take place at the local authority’s outdoor learning centre at Kilve.

Teaching and learning

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars and practical activities etc. Interactive lectures take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.

SCIL in partnership with 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

On average, students will have 19 study hours per week incorporating 9 direct contact hours of teaching and 10 hours in a professional placement setting and 18 hours independent study. Typically, 1 session per module will be delivered using collaborative online modalities in addition to an expectation that learners will engage with online learning opportunities in advance of, and following, each of their individual sessions. Weekly class contact time will be structured around module delivery but may also include 1 to 1 and group personal academic tutoring.

Typically, class contact time will be structured around:

  • Theoretical lectures
  • Practical sessions as appropriate
  • Module specific tutorials

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, students are expected to undertake 11 hours of personal self-study per week, including reading, preparing work-based tasks such as writing up an observation carried out in the workplace and at least 10 hours work-based practice.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including library resources, the virtual learning environment, and the use of a diversity of e-learning tools. Students are given guidance about what is available and how to access them in their induction sessions. 

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings and some Saturdays.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of ‘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 a range of coursework assessments such as essays, portfolios, blogs, presentations, reflective diaries and independent research studies and projects in year 1. There is an increased word count in year 2 and an increased expectation in relation to depth of analysis, assessments include: essays, case studies, reports, portfolios, blogs, presentations, reflective journals and independent research study projects.

You will receive feedback on assessments and undertaken by coursework. 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.

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 academics and professional practitioners with industry and occupational experience

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment please download our programme specification.

Careers

Careers

Employability

Completion of the Foundation Degree will enable you to progress to our BA Hons in Professional Practice (BAPP) which takes one year to complete leading to the award of an honours degree. Typically 95% of FD students at SCIL carry on to undertake a BAPP after completing their Foundation Degree.

Once they have completed FDED and BAPP, students are able to apply for routes to gain qualified teacher status. Our graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in variety of roles within the children and young people’s workforce such as social care.

For those students who do not wish to top-up their foundation degree, we have consulted with Somerset Country Council, schools, multi-academy trusts and private, voluntary and independent settings, who have acknowledged that this foundation degree would be accepted and recognised as a continuous professional development opportunity counting it towards their sector professional qualifications.

Two students are walking next to each other and smiling

Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential
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.

Course-related costs not included in the fees

In addition to course-related fees, students will be responsible for the costs of printing, stationery and books etc.
How to apply

How to apply



Applying through UCAS

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.

UCAS Code

X316, X317, X318

Apply via UCAS - Education and Development (Teaching and Learning) (X316) Apply via UCAS - Education and Development (SEND) (X317) Apply via UCAS - Education and Development (Outdoors Learning) (X318)

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Admissions Office

admissions@worc.ac.uk
01905 855111

Jude White

Administration Assistant
jude.white@somerset.gov.uk

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