The National Youth Agency - Professional Qualifications

Professional Qualifications

The following applies to qualifications in England.

About Professional Qualifications

The minimum professional qualification is a Dip HE in Youth Work or a Foundation Degree. There are also other types of higher education award that count as professional qualification. All qualifications vary in length. Courses are available for both full and part time study and require completion of substantial field work placements. A few institutions offer distance learning programmes.

The different qualifications are:

Also of interest...

Dip HE: two years full time and part time equivalent, some employment based.
Foundation Degree: two years full time or part time equivalent, employment based.
BA (hons): three years full time and part time equivalent.
PG Cert / PG Dip: one year full time and part time equivalent
MA: one year and part time equivalent

All the professional qualification programmes of study are offered by universities or colleges of higher education. The programmes of study will only offer professional qualification if they have first been professionally validated by The NYA. Professionally validated HE awards are currently offered by around 30 English universities and colleges of higher education.

Because Youth and Community workers work in a wide range of settings, Higher Education qualifications reflect different occupational needs, and have a range of titles, including youth and community, community and youth studies, childhood and youth studies, and informal and community education.

As from September 2010, all new professional qualifications in Youth Work will be at honours degree level, or higher. This change will not be implemented retrospectively and therefore all previous gained professional youth work qualifications will continue to confer qualiﬁed youth worker status.

List of Validated Courses

List of Validated Courses from October 2007

Courses by Geographical area

The Location Map of Training Courses includes Qualifying training programmes professionally validated by The National Youth Agency and recognised by JNC.

Comprehensive lists of all previous and current qualifications recognised by the JNC (vital sources of information for employers)

List of Recognised Schemes - Updated August 2007

National Occupational Standards

The revised Professional and National Occupational Standards for youth work are now approved and replace the standards previously developed by The NYA in 2000 and published by PAULO in 2002. In all there are 55 standards clustered into 19 principle areas of activity, representing five functional areas. The standards have been developed by LLUK, the Sector Skills Council within whose footprint youth work sits. The standards are available to view and download from the UK Standards website >>

The details of the National Occupational Standards are available from Lifelong Learning UK.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

More information about Professional Validation in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Obtaining a place

An employer may support you to undertake the Higher Education awards by giving financial assistance for payment of tuition fees, or time off for study, but you can also study for the qualification independently of full or part time employment. Current tuition fees for full time study are around £1100 per year.

Most universities have a minimum age for entry, varying from 18 to 21 depending on existing experience of paid or voluntary youth work. Whilst most universities stipulate minimum academic entry requirements, all institutions offering youth and community work qualifications welcome applications from those without academic qualifications providing they can show that they have relevant experience in youth work and have the intellectual ability to complete the course. All universities will have support services for students with different learning needs, e.g. deafness or dyslexia.

Ethical Conduct in Youth Work

As well as meeting formal entry requirements, you will need to demonstrate to the university that you are personally suitable for youth work. Necessary attributes include integrity in personal and social interactions, respect for the human rights of young people, acceptance of the principles of:

Ethical Conduct in Youth Work

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Download the NYA Guide to Youth Work and Youth Services in full >>